Policy Statement on Supporting the Development of Children Who Are Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Health and Human Services, 2016

2016-01-01

The purpose of this policy statement is to support early childhood programs and States by providing recommendations that promote the development and learning of young children, birth to age five, who are dual language learners (DLLs). The statement also provides support to tribal communities in their language revitalization efforts within tribal…

Preparing California's Early Care and Education Workforce to Teach Young Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliva-Olson, Carola; Estrada, Mari; Edyburn, Kelly L.

2017-01-01

The stage is set for major change in California early childhood education (ECE). The State's requirements for Transitional Kindergarten instruction, teacher training, and professional development could lead to mandated integration of existing, impressive Dual Language Learner (DLL) resources, guidance, and best practices. In addition to more…

Language Flowering, Language Empowering for Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honig, Alice Sterling

Based upon the view that parents, home visitors, and teachers in early childhood settings need tools for empowering young children to develop language, this paper examines what adults need to know to guide young children's language development and presents 20 suggestions for enhancing language growth. The paper maintains that adults need to know…

Dual Language as a Social Movement: Putting Languages on a Level Playing Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cortina, Regina; Makar, Carmina; Mount-Cors, Mary Faith

2015-01-01

As a social movement, dual language challenges and co-exists alongside traditional English-only classrooms in the US. Using Manuel Pastor's social movements framework, we demonstrate how dual language provides teaching methods and languages of instruction that allow varying student populations to excel in learning the official curriculum. In this…

Educator Language Ideologies and a Top-Down Dual Language Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitzsimmons-Doolan, Shannon; Palmer, Deborah; Henderson, Kathryn

2017-01-01

Dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs are framed to reflect pluralist discourses (de Jong, E. [2013]. "Policy Discourses and U.S. Language in Education Policies." "Peabody Journal of Education" 88 (1): 98-111) and affiliated language ideologies. The continued expansion of DLBE programs not surprisingly brings to…

A Case Study of Dual Language Program Administrators: The Teachers We Need

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lachance, Joan R.

2017-01-01

In support of growing numbers of dual language programs nation-wide, dual language school administrators seek to find teachers who are specifically prepared to work with dual language learners for additive biliteracy. For this research the author utilized a case study design to explore practicing dual language administrators' perspectives…

"¿Cómo Lo Escribo en Inglés o en Español?" Writing in Dual-Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillanders, Cristina

2018-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the development of writing in young dual language learners, who are children under 5 years old who are learning the dominant language and another language at the same time. Early writing has been associated with literacy outcomes in the later years of elementary school. The article presents samples of…

Beyond Professional Development: Factors Influencing Early Childhood Educators' Beliefs and Practices Working with Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spies, Tracy Griffin; Lyons, Catherine; Huerta, Margarita; Garza, Tiberio; Reding, Cristina

2017-01-01

The National Association for the Education of Young Children and Head Start have clearly articulated their position on the provision of high-quality instruction for the 4 million dual language learners (DLLs) enrolled in early childhood (EC) programs nationwide. Professional development (PD) provides a way for educators to increase their knowledge…

Advancing Early Literacy Learning for All Children: Implications of the NELP Report for Dual-Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutierrez, Kris D.; Zepeda, Marlene; Castro, Dina C.

2010-01-01

The authors examine the implications and limitations of the National Early Literacy Panel report on the early care of young children who are dual-language learners (DLLs).They examine the relevance of the report for DLLs, particularly the practice in this and other national synthesis reports of extrapolating implications for the education of young…

Reframing the Debate on Language Separation: Toward a Vision for Translanguaging Pedagogies in the Dual Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Deborah K.; Martínez, Ramón Antontio; Mateus, Suzanne G.; Henderson, Kathryn

2014-01-01

The policy of strict separation of languages for academic instruction dominates dual language bilingual education programming. This article explores the dynamic bilingual practices of two experienced bilingual teachers in a two-way dual language public school in Texas and contributes to current research problematizing language separation. Data…

Tense Marking in the English Narrative Retells of Dual Language Preschoolers.

PubMed

Gusewski, Svenja; Rojas, Raúl

2017-07-26

This longitudinal study investigated the emergence of English tense marking in young (Spanish-English) dual language learners (DLLs) over 4 consecutive academic semesters, addressing the need for longitudinal data on typical acquisition trajectories of English in DLL preschoolers. Language sample analysis was conducted on 139 English narrative retells elicited from 39 preschool-age (Spanish-English) DLLs (range = 39-65 months). Growth curve models captured within- and between-individual change in tense-marking accuracy over time. Tense-marking accuracy was indexed by the finite verb morphology composite and by 2 specifically developed adaptations. Individual tense markers were systematically described in terms of overall accuracy and specific error patterns. Tense-marking accuracy exhibited significant growth over time for each composite. Initially, irregular past-tense accuracy was higher than regular past-tense accuracy; over time, however, regular past-tense marking outpaced accuracy on irregular verbs. These findings suggest that young DLLs can achieve high tense-marking accuracy assuming 2 years of immersive exposure to English. Monitoring the growth in tense-marking accuracy over time and considering productive tense-marking errors as partially correct more precisely captured the emergence of English tense marking in this population with highly variable expressive language skills. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5176942.

The Gentrification of Dual Language Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valdez, Verónica E.; Freire, Juan A.; Delavan, M. Garrett

2016-01-01

Utah's dual language education (DL) initiative, officially introduced in 2007 and backed by unique state-level planning, is touted as a new "mainstreaming" of DL and is sparking interest across the U.S. Using a critical language policy lens and a mixed method approach, we asked which student groups were positioned discursively and…

Preschool Teachers' Language and Literacy Practices with Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawyer, Brook E.; Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Cycyk, Lauren M.; López, Lisa; Blair, Clancy; Sandilos, Lia; Komaroff, Eugene

2016-01-01

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the degree to which teachers used linguistically responsive practices to support the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLL) and (b) to investigate the associations between these practices and select teacher-level factors. The sample consisted of 72 preschool…

A culturally and linguistically responsive vocabulary approach for young Latino dual language learners.

PubMed

Méndez, Lucía I; Crais, Elizabeth R; Castro, Dina C; Kainz, Kirsten

2015-02-01

This study examined the role of the language of vocabulary instruction in promoting English vocabulary in preschool Latino dual language learners (DLLs). The authors compared the effectiveness of delivering a single evidence-informed vocabulary approach using English as the language of vocabulary instruction (English culturally responsive [ECR]) versus using a bilingual modality that strategically combined Spanish and English (culturally and linguistically responsive [CLR]). Forty-two DLL Spanish-speaking preschoolers were randomly assigned to the ECR group (n=22) or CLR group (n=20). Thirty English words were presented during small-group shared readings in their preschools 3 times a week for 5 weeks. Multilevel models were used to examine group differences in postinstruction scores on 2 Spanish and 2 English vocabulary assessments at instruction end and follow-up. Children receiving instruction in the CLR bilingual modality had significantly higher posttest scores (than those receiving the ECR English-only instruction) on Spanish and English vocabulary assessments at instruction end and on the Spanish vocabulary assessment at follow-up, even after controlling for preinstruction scores. The results provide additional evidence of the benefits of strategically combining the first and second language to promote English and Spanish vocabulary development in this population. Future directions for research and clinical applications are discussed.

Dual Language Development of Latino Children: Effect of Instructional Program Type and the Home and School Language Environment

PubMed Central

Collins, Brian A.

2014-01-01

Latino dual language children typically enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in Spanish and English, many with low proficiency in both languages, yet do make gains in one or both languages during their first school years. Dual language development is associated with how language is used at home and school, as well as the type of instructional program children receive at school. The present study investigates how changes in both Spanish and English proficiencies of Latino, second-generation immigrant children (n =163) from kindergarten to second grade relate to instructional program type as well as language use at home and school. A series of MANCOVAs demonstrated significant dual language gains in children who were in bilingual classrooms and schools where Spanish was used among the teachers, students, and staff. Furthermore, only in classrooms where both Spanish and English were used did children reach age-appropriate levels of academic proficiency in both languages. Home language use was also significantly associated with dual language gains as was maternal Spanish vocabulary knowledge before controlling for maternal education. Educational implications and potential benefits associated with bilingualism are discussed. PMID:25264401

47 CFR 73.1210 - TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico...-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico. (a) For the purpose of this section, dual-language broadcasting shall... a different language. (b) Television and Class A television licensees in Puerto Rico may enter into...

47 CFR 73.1210 - TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico...-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico. (a) For the purpose of this section, dual-language broadcasting shall... a different language. (b) Television and Class A television licensees in Puerto Rico may enter into...

47 CFR 73.1210 - TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico...-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico. (a) For the purpose of this section, dual-language broadcasting shall... a different language. (b) Television and Class A television licensees in Puerto Rico may enter into...

47 CFR 73.1210 - TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico...-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico. (a) For the purpose of this section, dual-language broadcasting shall... a different language. (b) Television and Class A television licensees in Puerto Rico may enter into...

47 CFR 73.1210 - TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false TV/FM dual-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico...-language broadcasting in Puerto Rico. (a) For the purpose of this section, dual-language broadcasting shall... a different language. (b) Television and Class A television licensees in Puerto Rico may enter into...

Enhancing Young Hispanic Dual Language Learners' Achievement: Exploring Strategies and Addressing Challenges. Policy Information Report. ETS RR-15-01

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ackerman, Debra J.; Tazi, Zoila

2015-01-01

Dual language learners, or DLLs, may have greater school readiness needs due to the key role English oral language skills play in the development of emerging literacy skills in English and their overall academic achievement. This especially can be the case if children's capacity to benefit from classroom instruction and interact with teachers and…

Preschool Teachers' Language and Literacy Practices with Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawyer, Brook E.; Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Cycyk, Lauren M.; Lopez, Lisa; Blair, Clancy; Sandilos, Lia; Komaroff, Eugene

2016-01-01

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the degree to which teachers used linguistically responsive practices to support the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLL) and (b) to investigate the associations between these practices and select teacher-level factors. The sample consisted of 72 preschool…

Better Policies for Dual Language Learners: Bridging Research, Policy, Implementation, and Classroom Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Conor P.

2015-01-01

On December 11, 2014, "New America" convened a group of leading experts on dual language learners (DLLs) to launch its new Dual Language Learners National Work Group. The group aimed to address three questions: (1) What are the key best practices for dual language learner instruction, policy, and research?; (2) What are the areas of…

School Leadership for Dual Language Education: A Social Justice Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMatthews, David; Izquierdo, Elena

2016-01-01

This article examines how a dual language program can be developed within the framework of social justice leadership. The authors analyzed principal, teacher, and parent interview transcripts as well as field notes and key documents to understand the role of school leadership in creating inclusive dual language programs to close the Latina/o-White…

Leadership Practice in Elementary School Dual Language Programs: A Collective Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monroy, Joanie K.

2012-01-01

Research in effective programming for English language learners has demonstrated the efficacy of dual language education as a model for closing persistent achievement gaps for this growing population of students. With goals of high academic achievement, linguistic proficiency in two languages, and cross-cultural proficiency, dual language…

Mobilities of Language and Literacy Ideologies: Dual Language Graduates' Bilingualism and Biliteracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Granados, Nadia R.

2017-01-01

Using qualitative methodology, this research examines how graduates of a K-5 dual language immersion program have experienced multiple and competing social, cultural, institutional, and political forces at play in complex processes that ultimately affect one's mobilities of language, literacy, and learning. These students have now grown into…

Dual Language Teachers' Stated Barriers to Implementation of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freire, Juan A.; Valdez, Verónica E.

2017-01-01

Culturally relevant pedagogy receives limited attention in many U.S. dual language classrooms. This article focuses on understanding the barriers eight elementary Spanish-English dual language teachers saw as preventing the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their urban classrooms. Employing critical sociocultural theory and drawing…

Predicting Participation in Dual Language Immersion Using Theory of Planned Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Call, Andrea; Domenech Rodríguez, Melanie M.; Vázquez, Alejandro L.; Corralejo, Samantha M.

2018-01-01

Dual language immersion programs are increasing in popularity. Yet little is known about what motivates parents to enroll their children in dual language immersion. The theory of planned behavior posits that behavior is based on attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The current study was an exploratory evaluation of the…

Preschool Teachers’ Language and Literacy Practices with Dual Language Learners

PubMed Central

Sawyer, Brook E.; Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Cycyk, Lauren M.; López, Lisa; Blair, Clancy; Sandilos, Lia; Komaroff, Eugene

2016-01-01

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the degree to which teachers used linguistically responsive practices to support the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLL) and (b) to investigate the associations between these practices and select teacher-level factors. The sample consisted of 72 preschool teachers. Observational data were collected on practices. Teachers self-reported on language and culture beliefs, Spanish speaking ability, and classroom composition. Results indicated that teachers, including those who spoke Spanish, used few linguistically responsive practices to support preschool DLLs. Only Spanish-speaking ability was related to practices. Implications for targeted professional development are discussed. PMID:27667968

Preschool Teachers' Language and Literacy Practices with Dual Language Learners.

PubMed

Sawyer, Brook E; Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Cycyk, Lauren M; López, Lisa; Blair, Clancy; Sandilos, Lia; Komaroff, Eugene

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the degree to which teachers used linguistically responsive practices to support the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLL) and (b) to investigate the associations between these practices and select teacher-level factors. The sample consisted of 72 preschool teachers. Observational data were collected on practices. Teachers self-reported on language and culture beliefs, Spanish speaking ability, and classroom composition. Results indicated that teachers, including those who spoke Spanish, used few linguistically responsive practices to support preschool DLLs. Only Spanish-speaking ability was related to practices. Implications for targeted professional development are discussed.

The Development of Bilingual Narrative Retelling Among Spanish-English Dual Language Learners Over Two Years.

PubMed

Lucero, Audrey

2018-05-25

This exploratory study investigates the development of oral narrative retell proficiency among Spanish-English emergent bilingual children longitudinally from kindergarten to second grade in Spanish and English as they learned literacy in the 2 languages concurrently. Oral narrative retell assessments were conducted with children who spoke Spanish at home and were enrolled in a dual language immersion program (N = 12) in the spring of kindergarten and second grade. Retells were transcribed and coded for vocabulary and grammar at the microlevel (Miller, 2012) and story structure at the macrolevel (Heilmann, Miller, Nockerts, & Dunaway, 2010). In microstructure paired-sample t tests, children showed significant improvements in vocabulary in both languages (Spanish total number of words η2 = .43, Spanish number of different words η2 = .44, English total number of words η2 = .61, English number of different words η2 = .62) but not grammar by second grade. At the macrostructure level, children showed significantly higher performance in English only (English narrative scoring scheme η2 = .47). The finding that children significantly improved in vocabulary in both languages but in overall story structure only in English suggests that discourse skills were being facilitated in English whereas Spanish discourse development may have stagnated even within a dual language immersion program. Results contribute to what is currently known about bilingual oral narrative development among young Spanish speakers enrolled in such programs and can inform assessment and instructional decisions.

The Efficacy of a Vocabulary Intervention for Dual-Language Learners with Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Restrepo, Maria Adelaida; Morgan, Gareth P.; Thompson, Marilyn S.

2013-01-01

Purpose: In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy of a Spanish-English versus English-only vocabulary intervention for dual-language learners (DLLs) with language impairment compared to mathematics intervention groups and typically developing controls with no intervention. Further, in this study the authors also examined whether the…

Languages Are More than Words: Spanish and American Sign Language in Early Childhood Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Judy; Torres-Crespo, Marisel N.

2015-01-01

Capitalizing on preschoolers' inherent enthusiasm and capacity for learning, the authors developed and implemented a dual-language program to enable young children to experience diversity and multiculturalism by learning two new languages: Spanish and American Sign Language. Details of the curriculum, findings, and strategies are shared.

Neural correlates of motor-cognitive dual-tasking in young and old adults

PubMed Central

Papegaaij, Selma; Hortobágyi, Tibor; Godde, Ben; Kaan, Wim A.; Erhard, Peter; Voelcker-Rehage, Claudia

2017-01-01

When two tasks are performed simultaneously, performance often declines in one or both tasks. These so-called dual-task costs are more pronounced in old than in young adults. One proposed neurological mechanism of the dual-task costs is that old compared with young adults tend to execute single-tasks with higher brain activation. In the brain regions that are needed for both tasks, the reduced residual capacity may interfere with performance of the dual-task. This competition for shared brain regions has been called structural interference. The purpose of the study was to determine whether structural interference indeed plays a role in the age-related decrease in dual-task performance. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate 23 young adults (20–29 years) and 32 old adults (66–89 years) performing a calculation (serial subtraction by seven) and balance-simulation (plantar flexion force control) task separately or simultaneously. Behavioral performance decreased during the dual-task compared with the single-tasks in both age groups, with greater dual-task costs in old compared with young adults. Brain activation was significantly higher in old than young adults during all conditions. Region of interest analyses were performed on brain regions that were active in both tasks. Structural interference was apparent in the right insula, as quantified by an age-related reduction in upregulation of brain activity from single- to dual-task. However, the magnitude of upregulation did not correlate with dual-task costs. Therefore, we conclude that the greater dual-task costs in old adults were probably not due to increased structural interference. PMID:29220349

Translanguaging and Positioning in Two-Way Dual Language Classrooms: A Case for Criticality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamman, Laura

2018-01-01

This article examines the role of translanguaging practices and pedagogies in two-way dual language classrooms. Much of the recent expansion of dual language programs across the US has occurred in mid-sized cities and rural communities where English monolingualism is the norm; however, the extant literature on flexible language practices in…

Optimizing New Language Use by Employing Young Learners' Own Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Quint; Nakata, Yoshiyuki

2014-01-01

The use and appropriate amount of students' own language (OL) in foreign language classes remains a subject of debate. While exclusive new language (NL) use may not necessarily always benefit all learners, especially young language learners (YLLs), overuse of the students' OL may not provide the same range of communicative experiences as greater…

Teaching Practices and Language Use in Two-Way Dual Language Immersion Programs in a Large Public School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Jennifer; Steele, Jennifer; Slater, Robert; Bacon, Michael; Miller, Trey

2016-01-01

Many educators and policy makers look to two-way dual language immersion as one of the most promising options to close achievement gaps for English learners. However, the programs' effectiveness depends on the quality of their implementation. This article reports on a large-scale study of the implementation of dual language immersion across a…

Teacher and Student Language Practices and Ideologies in a Third-Grade Two-Way Dual Language Program Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Kathryn I.; Palmer, Deborah K.

2015-01-01

This article provides an in-depth exploration of the language ecologies of two classrooms attempting to implement a two-way dual language (TWDL) program and its mediating conditions. Drawing on ethnographic methods and a sociocultural understanding of language, we examined both teachers' and students' language ideologies and language practices,…

Oral Language Competence, Young Speakers, and the Law

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, Pamela C.; Powell, Martine B.; Sanger, Dixie D.

2012-01-01

Purpose: This paper highlights the forensic implications of language impairment in 2 key (and overlapping) groups of young people: identified victims of maltreatment (abuse and/or neglect) and young offenders. Method: Two lines of research pertaining to oral language competence and young people's interface with the law are considered: 1 regarding…

Dual-Language Education for Low-Income Children: Preliminary Evidence of Benefits for Executive Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esposito, Alena G.; Baker-Ward, Lynne

2013-01-01

This investigation is an initial examination of possible enhancement of executive function through a dual-language (50:50) education model. The ethnically diverse, low-income sample of 120 children from Grades K, 2, and 4 consisted of approximately equal numbers of children enrolled in dual-language and traditional classrooms. Dual-language…

Race, Power, and Equity in a Multiethnic Urban Elementary School with a Dual-Language "Strand" Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Deborah

2010-01-01

Dual-language education is often lauded for providing high-caliber bilingual instruction in an integrated classroom. This is complicated, however, when a dual-language program does not include all members of a school community. This article examines a "strand" dual-language program that attracts middle-class white students to a predominantly black…

Jean Piaget's Theory of Equilibration Applied to Dual Language Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chavez, Luisa C.

This paper suggests that one possibility for the lack of study emphasis and unity of understanding in the area of dual language development is that language study in general shows some serious gaps and reveals a need for viewing language development as a holistic endeavor. Noting the failures of Skinnerian theory, Chomskian theory, Soviet…

Dual Language Teachers' Use of Conventional, Environmental, and Personal Resources to Support Academic Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucero, Audrey

2015-01-01

This article reports findings from a study that investigated the ways in which first-grade dual language teachers drew on various resources to instructionally support academic language development among Spanish-English emergent bilingual students. Classroom observations, semistructured interviews, and document collection were conducted over a…

Supporting Preschool Dual Language Learners: Parents' and Teachers' Beliefs about Language Development and Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawyer, Brook E.; Manz, Patricia H.; Martin, Kristin A.

2017-01-01

Guided by Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory of human development and Moll's theory of funds of knowledge, the aim of this qualitative study was to examine the beliefs of parents and early childhood teachers on (a) the language development of Spanish-speaking preschool dual language learners (DLLs) and (b) how they can collaborate to support…

The Importance of Principals Supporting Dual Language Education: A Social Justice Leadership Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMatthews, David; Izquierdo, Elena

2018-01-01

Recent calls for social justice to be a key aspect of principal preparation have been made, but content related to the efficacy of dual language education has been a neglected area of educational leadership research, coursework, and principal preparation standards. We draw on scholarship focused on dual language education, social justice…

Measuring young children's language abilities.

PubMed

Zink, I; Schaerlaekens, A

2000-01-01

This article deals with the new challenges put on language diagnosis, and the growing need for good diagnostic instruments for young children. Particularly for Dutch, the original English Reynell Developmental Language Scales were adapted not only to the Dutch idiom, but some general ameliorations and changes in the original scales resulted in a new instrument named the RTOS. The new instrument was standardized on a large population, and psychometrically evaluated. In communicating the experiences with such a language/cultural/psychometric adaptation, we hope that other language-minority groups will be encouraged to undertake similar adaptations.

The dual loop model: its relation to language and other modalities

PubMed Central

Rijntjes, Michel; Weiller, Cornelius; Bormann, Tobias; Musso, Mariacristina

2012-01-01

The current neurobiological consensus of a general dual loop system scaffolding human and primate brains gives evidence that the dorsal and ventral connections subserve similar functions, independent of the modality and species. However, most current commentators agree that although bees dance and chimpanzees grunt, these systems of communication differ qualitatively from human language. So why is language unique to humans? We discuss anatomical differences between humans and other animals, the meaning of lesion studies in patients, the role of inner speech, and compare functional imaging studies in language with other modalities in respect to the dual loop model. These aspects might be helpful for understanding what kind of biological system the language faculty is, and how it relates to other systems in our own species and others. PMID:22783188

Dual Language Immersion Program Equity and Access: Is There Equity for All Students?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandez, Patricia Espinoza

2016-01-01

This is a mixed methods study of K-12 school administrators with dual language immersion school leadership expertise. The paramount research focus was to identify equity and access issues in dual language immersion programs serving grades K-12, as identified by school administrators who have led such programs. A total pool of 498 were invited to…

Spoken Language Production in Young Adults: Examining Syntactic Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nippold, Marilyn A.; Frantz-Kaspar, Megan W.; Vigeland, Laura M.

2017-01-01

Purpose: In this study, we examined syntactic complexity in the spoken language samples of young adults. Its purpose was to contribute to the expanding knowledge base in later language development and to begin building a normative database of language samples that potentially could be used to evaluate young adults with known or suspected language…

Influences of Phonological Context on Tense Marking in Spanish–English Dual Language Learners

PubMed Central

Barlow, Jessica A.; Potapova, Irina; Pruitt-Lord, Sonja

2017-01-01

Purpose The emergence of tense-morpheme marking during language acquisition is highly variable, which confounds the use of tense marking as a diagnostic indicator of language impairment in linguistically diverse populations. In this study, we seek to better understand tense-marking patterns in young bilingual children by comparing phonological influences on marking of 2 word-final tense morphemes. Method In spontaneous connected speech samples from 10 Spanish–English dual language learners aged 56–66 months (M = 61.7, SD = 3.4), we examined marking rates of past tense -ed and third person singular -s morphemes in different environments, using multiple measures of phonological context. Results Both morphemes were found to exhibit notably contrastive marking patterns in some contexts. Each was most sensitive to a different combination of phonological influences in the verb stem and the following word. Conclusions These findings extend existing evidence from monolingual speakers for the influence of word-final phonological context on morpheme production to a bilingual population. Further, novel findings not yet attested in previous research support an expanded consideration of phonological context in clinical decision making and future research related to word-final morphology. PMID:28750415

Does Biliteracy + Mathematical Discourse = Binumerate Development? Language Use in a Middle School Dual-Language Mathematics Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubinstein-Ávila, Eliane; Sox, Amanda A.; Kaplan, Suzanne; McGraw, Rebecca

2015-01-01

Few studies on the role of bilingualism in mathematics classrooms explore the intersection of biliteracy, language use, mathematical discourse, and numeracy--especially at the middle school level. Drawing from biliteracy development theory and reform mathematics education literature, this qualitative case study of a dual-language mathematics…

Aging and the Vulnerability of Speech to Dual Task Demands

PubMed Central

Kemper, Susan; Schmalzried, RaLynn; Hoffman, Lesa; Herman, Ruth

2010-01-01

Tracking a digital pursuit rotor task was used to measure dual task costs of language production by young and older adults. Tracking performance by both groups was affected by dual task demands: time on target declined and tracking error increased as dual task demands increased from the baseline condition to a moderately demanding dual task condition to a more demanding dual task condition. When dual task demands were moderate, older adults’ speech rate declined but their fluency, grammatical complexity, and content were unaffected. When the dual task was more demanding, older adults’ speech, like young adults’ speech, became highly fragmented, ungrammatical, and incoherent. Vocabulary, working memory, processing speed, and inhibition affected vulnerability to dual task costs: vocabulary provided some protection for sentence length and grammaticality, working memory conferred some protection for grammatical complexity, and processing speed provided some protection for speech rate, propositional density, coherence, and lexical diversity. Further, vocabulary and working memory capacity provided more protection for older adults than for young adults although the protective effect of processing speed was somewhat reduced for older adults as compared to the young adults. PMID:21186917

Dual language profiles of Latino children of immigrants: Stability and change over the early school years

PubMed Central

COLLINS, BRIAN A.; O'CONNOR, ERIN E.; SUÁREZ-OROZCO, CAROLA; NIETO-CASTAÑON, ALFONSO; TOPPELBERG, CLAUDIO O.

2013-01-01

Dual language children enter school with varying levels of proficiencies in their first and second language. This study of Latino children of immigrants (N = 163) analyzes their dual language profiles at kindergarten and second grade, derived from the direct assessment of Spanish and English proficiencies (Woodcock Language Proficiency Batteries–Revised). Children were grouped based on the similarity of language profiles (competent profiles, such as dual proficient, Spanish proficient, and English proficient; and low-performing profiles, including borderline proficient and limited proficient). At kindergarten, the majority of children (63%) demonstrated a low-performing profile; by second grade, however, the majority of children (64%) had competent profiles. Change and stability of language profiles over time of individual children were then analyzed. Of concern, are children who continued to demonstrate a low-performing, high-risk profile. Factors in the linguistic environments at school and home, as well as other family and child factors associated with dual language profiles and change/stability over time were examined, with a particular focus on the persistently low-performing profile groups. PMID:24825925

The Effect of Dual-Language and Transitional-Bilingual Education Instructional Models on Spanish Proficiency for English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Audrey Figueroa

2014-01-01

The effects of "transitional-bilingual" and "dual-language" educational models on proficiency in students' home language (Spanish) were examined in a study of English language learners in the first and second grades in a large urban elementary school. In each grade, students were taught with either a transitional-bilingual…

Language Use in a Spanish-English Dual Immersion Classroom: A Sociolinguistic Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Potowski, Kimberly

Dual immersion classrooms combine students who speak a non-English language (in this case Spanish) with English speaking students learning the native language of the nonnative English speaking students. This case study recorded the output of Spanish first language (L1) and second language (L2) fifth graders over 5 months of Spanish language…

Child, family, and school characteristics related to English proficiency development among low-income, dual language learners.

PubMed

Kim, Yoon Kyong; Curby, Timothy W; Winsler, Adam

2014-12-01

Little is known about 2nd language development among young, low-income, language-minority children. This article examined the longitudinal English development of low-income, dual language learners (DLLs) in Miami (n = 18,532) from kindergarten through 5th grade. Growth curve modeling indicated that social skills, good behavior, Spanish (L1) competence in preschool, having a mother born in the United States, and attending larger schools with fewer DLLs were associated with higher initial levels of English proficiency in kindergarten and/or steeper growth over time. Survival analyses indicated that it took about 2 years for half of the sample to become proficient in English according to the school district's criterion. Higher initial proficiency in kindergarten, not receiving free/reduced lunch, not being Hispanic or Black, strong cognitive, language, and socioemotional skills at age 4, and maternal education were associated with faster attainment of English proficiency. It is important for teachers, parents, researchers, and policy makers to understand that DLL students come from diverse backgrounds and that poverty and other factors influence the speed of English language development for DLLs. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The independent and interacting effects of socioeconomic status and dual-language use on brain structure and cognition.

PubMed

Brito, Natalie H; Noble, Kimberly G

2018-06-07

Family socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly associated with children's cognitive development, and past studies have reported socioeconomic disparities in both neurocognitive skills and brain structure across childhood. In other studies, bilingualism has been associated with cognitive advantages and differences in brain structure across the lifespan. The aim of the current study is to concurrently examine the joint and independent associations between family SES and dual-language use with brain structure and cognitive skills during childhood. A subset of data from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics (PING) study was analyzed; propensity score matching established an equal sample (N = 562) of monolinguals and dual-language users with similar socio-demographic characteristics (M age = 13.5, Range = 3-20 years). When collapsing across all ages, SES was linked to both brain structure and cognitive skills. When examining differences by age group, brain structure was significantly associated with both income and dual-language use during adolescence, but not earlier in childhood. Additionally, in adolescence, a significant interaction between dual-language use and SES was found, with no difference in cortical surface area (SA) between language groups of higher-SES backgrounds but significantly increased SA for dual-language users from lower-SES families compared to SES-matched monolinguals. These results suggest both independent and interacting associations between SES and dual-language use with brain development. To our knowledge, this is the first study to concurrently examine dual-language use and socioeconomic differences in brain structure during childhood and adolescence. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Examining Preschool-Aged Dual Language Learners' Language Use: From a Functional Approach. WCER Working Paper No. 2016-1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Ahyoung Alicia; Kondo, Akira; Castro, Mariana

2016-01-01

Due to the increase in the number of preschool-aged dual language learners (DLLs), there is a need to understand their language development and how to better support them. Although DLLs' language development has traditionally been studied from a structuralist perspective, few have examined their language use from a functional approach, which…

Dual Language Instruction and Achievement: A Need and a Void in the Midwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De La Garza, Tammy Oberg; Mackinney, Erin; Lavigne, Alyson L.

2015-01-01

In recent years, the benefits of bilingualism through dual language (DL) education models have been well documented. Despite evidence of bilinguals' heightened cognition and achievement, Midwestern English language learners (ELLs) are relegated to language programs that do nothing to enhance or maintain students' native language. This descriptive…

Students' Perceptions of Bilingualism in Spanish and Mandarin Dual Language Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindholm-Leary, Kathryn

2016-01-01

Considerable research documents students' outcomes in dual language (DL) programs, but there is little examination of students' perceptions of bilingualism and its impact on students' cognitive functioning and social relationships, especially with comparative studies across different target languages and student backgrounds. This study, which…

Differences Between Dual-Method and Non–Dual-Method Protection Use in a Sample of Young African American Women Residing in the Southeastern United States

PubMed Central

Sales, Jessica M.; Latham, Teaniese P.; DiClemente, Ralph J.; Rose, Eve

2013-01-01

Objectives To characterize dual-method protection users and report the prevalence of dual-method use among young adult African American women residing in the Southeastern United States. Design Analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlled trial. Setting A clinic-based sample of young women enrolled in a randomized trial of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–prevention program in Atlanta, Georgia, from June 2005 to June 2007. Participants African American women aged 14 to 20 years who reported unprotected sexual activity in the past 6months. Of the eligible adolescents, 94% (N=701) were enrolled in the study and completed baseline assessments. Outcome Measures Dual-method protection use as well as sociodemographic, individual-level, interpersonal-level, and community-level factors and interpersonal communication skills. Only data from the baseline assessment, before randomization, were used for the analysis. Results A total of 102 participants (14.6%) were classified as dual-method protection users. After controlling for age and clinic, significant differences between dual-method users and non–dual-method users were found for impulsivity, self-esteem, social support, relationship style, partner communication self-efficacy, and fear of condom negotiation. Conclusions Dual-method protection use is low. Identification of factors that differentiate dual-method users from non–dual-method users at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels in this young African American sample suggests that HIV, sexually transmitted disease, and unintended pregnancy risk–reduction programs should address factors at each level, not simply the individual level, and that this may involve structural and/or clinical counseling practice changes in clinics that serve young women, to optimally facilitate dual-method protection use among young African American women in the Southeastern United States. PMID:21135341

Young People's Representations of Language Brokering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cline, Tony; Crafter, Sarah; O'Dell, Lindsay; de Abreu, Guida

2011-01-01

In recently arrived immigrant families, children and young people often act as language brokers for their parents and other adults. In public and academic debate, this activity is sometimes portrayed negatively as imposing excessive burdens of responsibility on the young people. This paper reports an analysis of qualitative data from a broader…

The Effect of Dual-Language Immersion on Student Achievement in Math, Science, and English Language Arts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steele, Jennifer L.; Slater, Robert; Li, Jennifer; Zamarro, Gema; Miller, Trey

2013-01-01

Confronted with many challenges to improving the quality of U.S. public K-12 education, many policymakers have viewed the study of a second language as a useful but nonessential ingredient of a world-class education system. However, others point out that dual-language education can be a powerful intervention for closing the achievement gap for…

Dual Language Graduates' Participation in Bilingual and Biliterate Communities of Practice across Time and Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Granados, Nadia Regina

2015-01-01

Through a Communities of Practice Network Analysis, this research illustrates the ways in which dual language graduates participate in multiple, varied, and overlapping communities of practice across time. Findings highlight that the dual language school as a shared community of practice represents a critical and formative part of participants'…

List Memory in Young Adults with Language Learning Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheng, Li; Byrd, Courtney T.; McGregor, Karla K.; Zimmerman, Hannah; Bludau, Kadee

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the verbal memory limitations of young adults with language learning disability (LLD). Method: Sixteen young adults with LLD and 34 age- and education-matched controls with typical language participated in a Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM; Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) list…

Employing mobile technology to improve language skills of young students with language-based disabilities.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Cathi Draper; Cumming, Therese M

2017-01-01

This exploratory study investigated the effects of a language building iPad application on the language skills (i.e., receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and sentence formation) of young students with language-based disabilities. The study utilized a pre-test-post-test control group design. Students in the treatment group used the iPad language building application, Language Builder, for 30 minutes a day. Participants were 31 first-grade to third-grade students with identified language-based disabilities. Students were assigned to two groups for the 8-week intervention. Data indicated that students in the treatment group made significantly greater gains in the area of sentence formation than the control group. Results revealed no significant difference between the two groups in the areas of expressive and receptive vocabulary. A short intervention of using Language Builder via the iPad may increase the sentence formation skills of young students with language delays. Additionally, discussion regarding the usefulness of iPad applications in education is presented.

Examining the Oral Language Competency of Children from Korean Immigrant Families in English-Only and Dual Language Immersion Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Jane Younga; Lee, Jin Sook; Oh, Janet S.

2018-01-01

In this study, we examined the bilingual language development among Korean American first-graders in two southern California cities and explored the opportunities for language use available to them in various spaces: at school (one dual language immersion school and one traditional English-only public school), at home, and in the community. Data…

Can non-interactive language input benefit young second-language learners?

PubMed

Au, Terry Kit-Fong; Chan, Winnie Wailan; Cheng, Liao; Siegel, Linda S; Tso, Ricky Van Yip

2015-03-01

To fully acquire a language, especially its phonology, children need linguistic input from native speakers early on. When interaction with native speakers is not always possible - e.g. for children learning a second language that is not the societal language - audios are commonly used as an affordable substitute. But does such non-interactive input work? Two experiments evaluated the usefulness of audio storybooks in acquiring a more native-like second-language accent. Young children, first- and second-graders in Hong Kong whose native language was Cantonese Chinese, were given take-home listening assignments in a second language, either English or Putonghua Chinese. Accent ratings of the children's story reading revealed measurable benefits of non-interactive input from native speakers. The benefits were far more robust for Putonghua than English. Implications for second-language accent acquisition are discussed.

The Role of Prefabricated Language in Young Children's Second Language Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perera, Natsuko Shibata

2001-01-01

A study investigated how young learners of English as a second language become both linguistically creative and capable of socializing in English through the use of prefabricated language (PL) (memorized chunks of sentences). Observations of four Japanese preschool children in two-way immersion programs suggested that PL acts as a scaffold for…

Language Ability of Young English Language Learners: Definition, Configuration, and Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gu, Lin

2015-01-01

In this study I examined the dimensionality of the latent ability underlying language use that is needed to fulfill the demands young learners face in English-medium instructional environments, where English is used as the means of instruction for teaching subject matters. Previous research on English language use by school-age children provided…

Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genesee, Fred; Paradis, Johanne; Crago, Martha B.

2004-01-01

This book dispels many myths about dual language development and answers key questions that might arise as you work with children and their parents. Student profiles, definitions of key terms, and "clinical implications" sections for selected chapters make this a valuable reference for in-practice SLPs and educators, an accessible resource for…

Understanding How Emergent Bilinguals Bridge Belonging and Languages in Dual Language Immersion Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Di Stefano, Marialuisa

2017-01-01

This dissertation covers the purpose, findings, and implication of a 10-week ethnographic research study in a dual language immersion (DLI) third-grade classroom in the northeastern U.S. The purpose was to promote a better understanding of the processes and products of identity development in a DLI setting. Sense of belonging and language…

Interests and Conflicts: Exploring the Context for Early Implementation of a Dual Language Policy in One Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forman, Stephanie

2016-01-01

Dual language immersion program models represent a potentially effective way to serve growing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) in schools and districts. However, local challenges, such as interpersonal conflict, can impact the process of implementing dual language policies and programs, limiting the extent to which they are able to meet…

Family Literacy Programmes and Young Children's Language and Literacy Development: Paying Attention to Families' Home Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Jim; Anderson, Ann; Sadiq, Assadullah

2017-01-01

In this article, we review the literature on the impact of family literacy programmes on young children's language and literacy learning. After defining family literacy, we present a brief historical overview of family literacy programmes, including persistent questions regarding their effectiveness with respect to young children's language and…

Dual Language Use in Sign-Speech Bimodal Bilinguals: fNIRS Brain-Imaging Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kovelman, Ioulia; Shalinsky, Mark H.; White, Katherine S.; Schmitt, Shawn N.; Berens, Melody S.; Paymer, Nora; Petitto, Laura-Ann

2009-01-01

The brain basis of bilinguals' ability to use two languages at the same time has been a hotly debated topic. On the one hand, behavioral research has suggested that bilingual dual language use involves complex and highly principled linguistic processes. On the other hand, brain-imaging research has revealed that bilingual language switching…

Online Games for Young Learners' Foreign Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto; Someya, Yuumi; Fukuhara, Eiji

2014-01-01

Young learners' use of instructional games in foreign language learning is not yet well understood. Using games that were part of the learning tools for an online assessment, Jido-Eiken, a standardized English proficiency test for young learners in Japan, we examined young learners' game-playing behaviours and the relationship of these behaviours…

Improving posture-motor dual-task with a supraposture-focus strategy in young and elderly adults.

PubMed

Yu, Shu-Han; Huang, Cheng-Ya

2017-01-01

In a postural-suprapostural task, appropriate prioritization is necessary to achieve task goals and maintain postural stability. A "posture-first" principle is typically favored by elderly people in order to secure stance stability, but this comes at the cost of reduced suprapostural performance. Using a postural-suprapostural task with a motor suprapostural goal, this study investigated differences between young and older adults in dual-task cost across varying task prioritization paradigms. Eighteen healthy young (mean age: 24.8 ± 5.2 years) and 18 older (mean age: 68.8 ± 3.7 years) adults executed a designated force-matching task from a stabilometer board using either a stabilometer stance (posture-focus strategy) or force-matching (supraposture-focus strategy) as the primary task. The dual-task effect (DTE: % change in dual-task condition; positive value: dual-task benefit, negative value: dual-task cost) of force-matching error and reaction time (RT), posture error, and approximate entropy (ApEn) of stabilometer movement were measured. When using the supraposture-focus strategy, young adults exhibited larger DTE values in each behavioral parameter than when using the posture-focus strategy. The older adults using the supraposture-focus strategy also attained larger DTE values for posture error, stabilometer movement ApEn, and force-matching error than when using the posture-focus strategy. These results suggest that the supraposture-focus strategy exerted an increased dual-task benefit for posture-motor dual-tasking in both healthy young and elderly adults. The present findings imply that the older adults should make use of the supraposture-focus strategy for fall prevention during dual-task execution.

Improving posture-motor dual-task with a supraposture-focus strategy in young and elderly adults

PubMed Central

Yu, Shu-Han

2017-01-01

In a postural-suprapostural task, appropriate prioritization is necessary to achieve task goals and maintain postural stability. A “posture-first” principle is typically favored by elderly people in order to secure stance stability, but this comes at the cost of reduced suprapostural performance. Using a postural-suprapostural task with a motor suprapostural goal, this study investigated differences between young and older adults in dual-task cost across varying task prioritization paradigms. Eighteen healthy young (mean age: 24.8 ± 5.2 years) and 18 older (mean age: 68.8 ± 3.7 years) adults executed a designated force-matching task from a stabilometer board using either a stabilometer stance (posture-focus strategy) or force-matching (supraposture-focus strategy) as the primary task. The dual-task effect (DTE: % change in dual-task condition; positive value: dual-task benefit, negative value: dual-task cost) of force-matching error and reaction time (RT), posture error, and approximate entropy (ApEn) of stabilometer movement were measured. When using the supraposture-focus strategy, young adults exhibited larger DTE values in each behavioral parameter than when using the posture-focus strategy. The older adults using the supraposture-focus strategy also attained larger DTE values for posture error, stabilometer movement ApEn, and force-matching error than when using the posture-focus strategy. These results suggest that the supraposture-focus strategy exerted an increased dual-task benefit for posture-motor dual-tasking in both healthy young and elderly adults. The present findings imply that the older adults should make use of the supraposture-focus strategy for fall prevention during dual-task execution. PMID:28151943

Interactions between working memory and language in young children with specific language impairment (SLI).

PubMed

Vugs, Brigitte; Knoors, Harry; Cuperus, Juliane; Hendriks, Marc; Verhoeven, Ludo

2016-01-01

The underlying structure of working memory (WM) in young children with and without specific language impairment (SLI) was examined. The associations between the components of WM and the language abilities of young children with SLI were then analyzed. The Automated Working Memory Assessment and four linguistic tasks were administered to 58 children with SLI and 58 children without SLI, aged 4-5 years. The WM of the children was best represented by a model with four separate but interacting components of verbal storage, visuospatial storage, verbal central executive (CE), and visuospatial CE. The associations between the four components of WM did not differ significantly for the two groups of children. However, the individual components of WM showed varying associations with the language abilities of the children with SLI. The verbal CE component of WM was moderately to strongly associated with all the language abilities in children with SLI: receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, verbal comprehension, and syntactic development. These results show verbal CE to be involved in a wide range of linguistic skills; the limited ability of young children with SLI to simultaneously store and process verbal information may constrain their acquisition of linguistic skills. Attention should thus be paid to the language problems of children with SLI, but also to the WM impairments that can contribute to their language problems.

The Potential of Dual-Language Cross-Cultural Peer Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruecker, Todd

2011-01-01

This article explores the potential of dual-language cross-cultural peer review and how it improves on traditional monolingual and monocultural peer review. Drawing on scholarship related to international exchange programmes, peer review, and two-way immersion programmes in the United States as well as data collected while facilitating the…

A Critical Look at Dual Language Immersion in the New Latin@ Diaspora

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cervantes-Soon, Claudia G.

2014-01-01

Two-way immersion (TWI), an approach that combines language-minority students and native English speakers in dual-language classrooms, is growing in popularity in schools of newly Latinized regions of the U.S. Using North Carolina as an example, this critical review of the literature posits that as neoliberal trends increasingly shape the…

The Family Backpack Project: Responding to Dual-Language Texts through Family Journals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowe, Deborah; Fain, Jeanne Gilliam

2013-01-01

The Family Backpack Project provided 249 low-income, prekindergarten children and their families with opportunities to read and listen to audio recordings of 3 sets of books in their homes. Families received English or dual-language texts (English plus Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, or Somali) matched to their home languages. Children and their…

Modelo B/Dual Language Programmes in the Basque Country and the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres-Guzman, Maria E.; Etxeberria, Feli

2005-01-01

In this paper, we undertake a cross-national comparison of early partial immersion programmes, known as dual language or Modelo B programmes, in the USA and the Basque Country in Spain, respectively. We attempt to make sense of their growth, the expanded social uses of the minority languages, and address seemingly contradictory pedagogical…

Input and language development in bilingually developing children.

PubMed

Hoff, Erika; Core, Cynthia

2013-11-01

Language skills in young bilingual children are highly varied as a result of the variability in their language experiences, making it difficult for speech-language pathologists to differentiate language disorder from language difference in bilingual children. Understanding the sources of variability in bilingual contexts and the resulting variability in children's skills will help improve language assessment practices by speech-language pathologists. In this article, we review literature on bilingual first language development for children under 5 years of age. We describe the rate of development in single and total language growth, we describe effects of quantity of input and quality of input on growth, and we describe effects of family composition on language input and language growth in bilingual children. We provide recommendations for language assessment of young bilingual children and consider implications for optimizing children's dual language development. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Differentiated Rates of Growth across Preschool Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lambert, Richard G.; Kim, Do-Hong; Durham, Sean; Burts, Diane C.

2017-01-01

This study illustrates why preschool children who are dual language learners (DLLs) are not a homogeneous group. An empirically developed model of preschool DLL subgroups, based on latent class analysis, was presented. The model reflects three separate subgroups of DLL children present in many classrooms where DLL children are served: Bilinguals,…

Function, Type, and Distribution of Teacher Questions in Dual-Language Preschool Read Alouds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gort, Mileidis; Pontier, Ryan W.; Sembiante, Sabrina F.

2012-01-01

This exploratory study investigated the nature and distribution of dual-language preschool teachers' questions across parallel Spanish- and English-medium read-aloud activities. The notions of comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985) and language output (Swain, 1985), along with a reciprocal interaction model of teaching (Cummins, 2000), guided our…

Effect of Foster Care on Young Children's Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Windsor, Jennifer; Benigno, Joann P.; Wing, Christine A.; Carroll, Patrick J.; Koga, Sebastian F.; Nelson, Charles A., III; Fox, Nathan A.; Zeanah, Charles H.

2011-01-01

This report examines 174 young children's language outcomes in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, the first randomized trial of foster placement after institutional care. Age of foster placement was highly correlated with language outcomes. Placement by 15 months led to similar expressive and receptive language test scores as typical age…

Beetles and Butterflies: Language and Learning in a Dual Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes, Sharon Adelman

2007-01-01

Welcome to the classroom of Jill Sontag and her 19 young bilingual collaborators. Join them as they simultaneously explore the world of insects and the world of language. These curious and energetic second graders are easily drawn into the realm of bugs. Encouraging them to speak in Spanish, however, is a bit more complicated. Jill uses her…

Beating the Odds: A Longitudinal Investigation of Low-Income Dual-Language and Monolingual Children's English Language and Literacy Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Myae; Vukelich, Carol; Buell, Martha; Meacham, Sohyun

2014-01-01

Research Findings: The current study reports on the results of a longitudinal investigation of the language and early literacy development of a sample of dual-language learners (DLLs) and monolingual English speakers from low-income families who received an Early Reading First intervention during their Head Start preschool year. A total of 62…

Predicting the language proficiency of Chinese student pilots within American airspace: Single-task versus dual-task English-language assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noble, Clifford Elliott, II

2002-09-01

The problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of three single-task instruments---(a) the Test of English as a Foreign Language, (b) the Aviation Test of Spoken English, and (c) the Single Manual-Tracking Test---and three dual-task instruments---(a) the Concurrent Manual-Tracking and Communication Test, (b) the Certified Flight Instructor's Test, and (c) the Simulation-Based English Test---to predict the language performance of 10 Chinese student pilots speaking English as a second language when operating single-engine and multiengine aircraft within American airspace. Method. This research implemented a correlational design to investigate the ability of the six described instruments to predict the mean score of the criterion evaluation, which was the Examiner's Test. This test assessed the oral communication skill of student pilots on the flight portion of the terminal checkride in the Piper Cadet, Piper Seminole, and Beechcraft King Air airplanes. Results. Data from the Single Manual-Tracking Test, as well as the Concurrent Manual-Tracking and Communication Test, were discarded due to performance ceiling effects. Hypothesis 1, which stated that the average correlation between the mean scores of the dual-task evaluations and that of the Examiner's Test would predict the mean score of the criterion evaluation with a greater degree of accuracy than that of single-task evaluations, was not supported. Hypothesis 2, which stated that the correlation between the mean scores of the participants on the Simulation-Based English Test and the Examiner's Test would predict the mean score of the criterion evaluation with a greater degree of accuracy than that of all single- and dual-task evaluations, was also not supported. The findings suggest that single- and dual-task assessments administered after initial flight training are equivalent predictors of language performance when piloting single-engine and multiengine aircraft.

Expository Language Skills of Young School-Age Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westerveld, Marleen F.; Moran, Catherine A.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This research investigated the expository language skills of young school-age children with the ultimate aim of obtaining normative data for clinical practice. Specifically, this study examined (a) the level of expository language performance of 6- and 7-year-old children with typical development and (b) age-related differences between…

Bidirectionality in Self-Regulation and Expressive Vocabulary: Comparisons between Monolingual and Dual Language Learners in Preschool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bohlmann, Natalie L.; Maier, Michelle F.; Palacios, Natalia

2015-01-01

Significant differences in language and self-regulation skills exist among children when they enter formal schooling. Contributing to these language differences is a growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) in the United States. Given evidence linking self-regulatory processes and language development, this study explored bidirectional…

Language Use in Multiethnic Literature For Young Adults.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christianson, Darcy

This study analyzed ethnic authenticity with regard to language use in 16 books for children and young adults used in Central Michigan University's English 582 course, "Cultural Pluralism in Children and Young Adult Literature." Four ethnic groups were included: Native American, African American, Asian American, and Hispanic American. To evaluate…

First-Language Longitudinal Predictors of Second-Language Literacy in Young L2 Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shum, Kathy Kar-man; Ho, Connie Suk-Han; Siegel, Linda S.; Au, Terry Kit-fong

2016-01-01

Can young students' early reading abilities in their first language (L1) predict later literacy development in a second language (L2)? The cross-language relationships between Chinese (L1) and English (L2) among 87 Hong Kong students were explored in a longitudinal study. Chinese word-reading fluency, Chinese rapid digit naming, and Chinese rhyme…

Equity in Spanish/English Dual Language Education: Practitioners' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sugarman, Julie Sarice

2012-01-01

Dual language programs have been shown to be one of the most successful models for closing the achievement gap between English-speaking and English-learning students, which can be considered a strong indicator of educational equity. However, questions remains about how equity is achieved within these programs and what equity means to…

A Critical Appraisal of Foreign Language Research in Content and Language Integrated Learning, Young Language Learners, and Technology-Enhanced Language Learning Published in Spain (2003-2012)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dooly, Melinda; Masats, Dolors

2015-01-01

This state-of-the-art review provides a critical overview of research publications in Spain in the last ten years in three areas of teaching and learning foreign languages (especially English): context and language integrated learning (CLIL), young language learners (YLL), and technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). These three domains have…

Understanding Pervasive Language Impairment in Young Children: Exploring Patterns in Narrative Language and Functional Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, Anna Jeddeloh

2013-01-01

Research has identified language impairment as a pervasive disability (Bishop & Edmundson, 1987; Greenhalgh & Strong, 2001). Classroom communication behaviors have a role in the maintenance of special education eligibility and functional communication difficulties for young children with language impairment. This paper reviews the…

Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children's Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers.

PubMed

Lewis, Kandia; Sandilos, Lia E; Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Sawyer, Brook E; Méndez, Lucía I

This study explored the relations between Spanish-English dual language learner (DLL) children's home language and literacy experiences and their expressive vocabulary and oral comprehension abilities in Spanish and in English. Data from Spanish-English mothers of 93 preschool-age Head Start children who resided in central Pennsylvania were analyzed. Children completed the Picture Vocabulary and Oral Comprehension subtests of the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz and the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Results revealed that the language spoken by mothers and children and the frequency of mother-child reading at home influenced children's Spanish language abilities. In addition, the frequency with which children told a story was positively related to children's performance on English oral language measures. The findings suggest that language and literacy experiences at home have a differential impact on DLLs' language abilities in their 2 languages. Specific components of the home environment that benefit and support DLL children's language abilities are discussed.

Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children's Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers

PubMed Central

Lewis, Kandia; Sandilos, Lia E.; Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Sawyer, Brook E.; Méndez, Lucía I.

2015-01-01

Research Findings This study explored the relations between Spanish–English dual language learner (DLL) children's home language and literacy experiences and their expressive vocabulary and oral comprehension abilities in Spanish and in English. Data from Spanish–English mothers of 93 preschool-age Head Start children who resided in central Pennsylvania were analyzed. Children completed the Picture Vocabulary and Oral Comprehension subtests of the Batería III Woodcock–Muñoz and the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Results revealed that the language spoken by mothers and children and the frequency of mother–child reading at home influenced children's Spanish language abilities. In addition, the frequency with which children told a story was positively related to children's performance on English oral language measures. Practice or Policy The findings suggest that language and literacy experiences at home have a differential impact on DLLs' language abilities in their 2 languages. Specific components of the home environment that benefit and support DLL children's language abilities are discussed. PMID:27429533

Language Impairment and Comorbid Vulnerabilities among Young People in Custody

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Nathan; Chitsabesan, Prathiba; Bryan, Karen; Borschmann, Rohan; Swain, Nathaniel; Lennox, Charlotte; Shaw, Jennifer

2017-01-01

Background: While the prevalence of language and communication difficulties among young people in custody is well established, holistic understanding of the complexity and co-occurrence of additional vulnerabilities among this population are rare. Methods: Ninety-three young people in a young offenders institution in England were assessed using…

"Compromises That We Make": Whiteness in the Dual Language Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Meg

2017-01-01

This case study of a two-way dual language school explores the role of whiteness in a bilingual space, specifically with regards to parent involvement. I ask how whiteness operates in this setting and how the school's response to parent involvement reflects and/or challenges white supremacy. Using the concept of "interest convergence"…

Dual Diagnosis - Multiple Languages

MedlinePlus

... National Library of Medicine Comorbidity or dual diagnosis - Opioid addiction, part 9 - English PDF Comorbidity or dual diagnosis - Opioid addiction, part 9 - español (Spanish) PDF Comorbidity or dual ...

Book reading styles in dual-parent and single-mother families.

PubMed

Blake, Joanna; Macdonald, Silvana; Bayrami, Lisa; Agosta, Vanessa; Milian, Andrea

2006-09-01

Whereas many studies have investigated quantitative aspects of book reading (frequency), few have examined qualitative aspects, especially in very young children and through direct observations of shared reading. The purpose of this study was to determine possible differences in book-reading styles between mothers and fathers and between mothers from single- and dual-parent families. It also related types of parental verbalizations during book reading to children's reported language measures. Dual-parent (29) and single-parent (24) families were observed in shared book reading with their toddlers (15-month-olds) or young preschoolers (27-month-olds). Parent-child dyads were videotaped while book reading. The initiator of each book-reading episode was coded. Parents' verbalizations were exhaustively coded into 10 categories. Mothers completed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory, and the children were given the Bayley scales. All parents differentiated their verbalizations according to the age rather than the gender of the child, but single mothers imitated female children more than males. Few differences in verbalizations were found between mothers and fathers or between mothers from single- and dual-parent families. Fathers allowed younger children to initiate book-reading episodes more than mothers. For both age groups of children, combined across families, verbalizations that related the book to the child's experience were correlated with reported language measures. Questions and imitations were related to language measures for the older age group. The important types of parental verbalizations during shared book reading for children's language acquisition are relating, questions and imitations.

Popular Culture in Transglossic Language Practices of Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sultana, Shaila; Dovchin, Sender

2017-01-01

Based on virtual conversations drawn from two separate intensive ethnographic studies in Bangladesh and Mongolia, we show that popular cultural texts play a significant role in young adults' heteroglossic language practices. On the one hand, they borrow voices from cultural texts and cross the boundaries of language, i.e., codes, modes, and…

Reinforcement Learning in Young Adults with Developmental Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Joanna C.; Tomblin, J. Bruce

2012-01-01

The aim of the study was to examine reinforcement learning (RL) in young adults with developmental language impairment (DLI) within the context of a neurocomputational model of the basal ganglia-dopamine system (Frank, Seeberger, & O'Reilly, 2004). Two groups of young adults, one with DLI and the other without, were recruited. A probabilistic…

Motivating factors for dual-method contraceptive use among adolescents and young women: a qualitative investigation.

PubMed

Lemoine, Julie; Teal, Stephanie B; Peters, Marissa; Guiahi, Maryam

2017-11-01

This qualitative study explores how adolescents and young women perceive the need for and describe the use of dual method contraception. We interviewed 20 sexually active women aged 16-24 who attended an adolescent-focused Title X family-planning clinic and were using a non-barrier contraceptive method. We used a semi-structured interview guide that included domains related to sexual activity, knowledge of and use of contraceptives and condoms, and relationship factors. We coded transcripts using grounded theory techniques and used an iterative process to develop overarching themes. Dual method contraceptive users primarily discussed pregnancy prevention as their motivating factor. Many expressed anxieties over an unplanned pregnancy and reported condom use as "back-up" contraception. Risk perception for pregnancy or STI acquisition did not necessarily change as relationship trust increased, but rather, their anxiety regarding the negativity of such outcomes decreased. Dual-method contraception use decreased when participants reported that condoms were not readily available, or when they self-described immaturity. Less frequently, participants reported dual method use for sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, and many substituted STI testing for condom use. Contraceptive type (short-acting vs. long-acting) did not influence reported attitudes towards dual method use. Health educators and clinicians encourage condom use in young women due to the significant morbidity associated with STI acquisition. Most participants in our study view condoms as a way to improve pregnancy prevention. Acknowledging and addressing this divergence in motivation will allow caregivers to improve strategies for communicating the importance of dual method use. Young women primarily describe pregnancy prevention as the reason for dual method use, STI protection is less salient. Consideration of this viewpoint by health educators and clinicians will allow us to communicate more

Attitudinal Perspectives: A Factor to Implementation of a Dual Language Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitacre, Michael

2015-01-01

The central focus of this study was to determine the overall perceptions of school administrators, and the district bilingual coordinator on transferring theory to classroom practice, implementation, as viewed by those involved in the implementation process of the Gómez and Gómez Model of Dual Language Education. Responses were solicited from…

Motivational Effects of Standardized Language Assessment on Chinese Young Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Chuqiao

2016-01-01

This review paper examines how standardized language assessment affects Chinese young learners' motivation for second-language learning. By presenting the historical and contemporary contexts of the testing system in China, this paper seeks to demonstrate the interrelationship among cultural, social, familial, and individual factors, which…

A Study of Problems and Responses in the Development of Dual-Language Education Models in Tibetan Regions: Taking Xiahe County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture as an Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hongzhi, Long

2017-01-01

Dual-language education models are theoretical and practical systems formed through the process of dual-language education and centered on study and teaching. The language environment is the basis for developing and reforming dual-language education models. The author takes Xiahe County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture as an example and…

Dual Language = Saad Ahaah Sinil. A Navajo-English Dictionary. Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin, Martha, Ed.; Lynch, Regina, Ed.

A dual-language Navajo-English dictionary provides a chart of the Navajo kinship system, a two-page map of the Navajo Nation, and English equivalents for Navajo words in 46 linguistic and cultural categories. Included are words for: races (Indian and other ethnic groups); Navajo clans; age groups; Navajo ceremonies; body parts; sickness; clothing;…

Exploring Third Space in a Dual-Language Setting: Opportunities and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitts, Shanan

2009-01-01

This study examined the ways that 5th graders and their teachers constructed third spaces in bilingual and bicultural communities of practice in a dual-language school. Students and teachers used students' funds of knowledge to connect with and transform academic tasks and discourses and to create third spaces. In transformational third spaces,…

Are They All Language Learners?: Educational Labeling and Raciolinguistic Identifying in a California Middle School Dual Language Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernandez, Sera J.

2017-01-01

This manuscript draws from a 2-year multiple-case ethnography on the educational experiences of Mexican immigrant families with California middle schools. The article explores the influence of the political landscape and raciolinguistic ideologies surrounding the nature and implementation of a middle school dual language bilingual program, and it…

Input Generation by Young Second Language Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cathcart-Strong, Ruth L.

1986-01-01

Examined spontaneous communicative acts (requests for information, calls for attention, intention statements, etc.) of a group of young second-language learners and their native-speaker interlocutors in three play situations. Results showed that, while the response rate to some types of utterances was predictable, others did not generate the…

Language Teacher Candidates' Self-Assessment Process for Teaching to Young Learners in EFL Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genç Ilter, Binnur

2017-01-01

Teaching a foreign language to young learners have some differences from teaching adults. Young children have concentration problems and they tend to change their mood every ten minutes and need more creative activities than adults. Therefore, foreign language teachers have to choose interesting activities for them and foreign language teacher…

Parental Role Behaviors in Young, Dual Parent Families: Future Policy Implications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dail, Paula W.

An investigation was undertaken in an effort to further understand the role of young, traditional dual-parent families. A total of 249 parents were asked to complete the Iowa Parent Behavior Inventory. Responses were categorized into parent involvement, limit setting, responsivity, reasoned guidance, free expression (mothers only), and intimacy.…

Young Foreign Language Learners' Interactions during Task-Based Paired Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto; Zeng, Wei

2014-01-01

Despite the popularity of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in foreign language (FL) education at elementary school, it remains unclear how young learners' FL abilities can best be evaluated with tasks. The present study seeks to understand developmental differences in interactions among elementary-school students during task-based language…

Exploring Young Learners' Foreign Language Learning Awareness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muñoz, Carmen

2014-01-01

The present study explores young learners' awareness of foreign language learning and of their learning conditions. The participants were 76 Catalan-Spanish children who were learning English at primary school. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data were collected by means of two different interviews that contained questions related to pupils'…

Implementing Two-Way Dual-Language Immersion Programs: Classroom Insights from an Urban District. Research Brief. RB-9921

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Jennifer J.; Steele, Jennifer L.; Slater, Robert; Bacon, Michael; Miller, Trey

2016-01-01

Dual-language immersion programs--in which students learn core subjects (language arts, math, science, and social studies) in both English and a "partner" language--have been gaining in popularity across the United States. Such programs may use a "two-way model," in which roughly half the students are native speakers of the…

Young children's communication and literacy: a qualitative study of language in the inclusive preschool.

PubMed

Kliewer, C

1995-06-01

Interactive and literacy-based language use of young children within the context of an inclusive preschool classroom was explored. An interpretivist framework and qualitative research methods, including participant observation, were used to examine and analyze language in five preschool classes that were composed of children with and without disabilities. Children's language use included spoken, written, signed, and typed. Results showed complex communicative and literacy language use on the part of young children outside conventional adult perspectives. Also, children who used expressive methods other than speech were often left out of the contexts where spoken language was richest and most complex.

Dual Neural Network Model for the Evolution of Speech and Language.

PubMed

Hage, Steffen R; Nieder, Andreas

2016-12-01

Explaining the evolution of speech and language poses one of the biggest challenges in biology. We propose a dual network model that posits a volitional articulatory motor network (VAMN) originating in the prefrontal cortex (PFC; including Broca's area) that cognitively controls vocal output of a phylogenetically conserved primary vocal motor network (PVMN) situated in subcortical structures. By comparing the connections between these two systems in human and nonhuman primate brains, we identify crucial biological preadaptations in monkeys for the emergence of a language system in humans. This model of language evolution explains the exclusiveness of non-verbal communication sounds (e.g., cries) in infants with an immature PFC, as well as the observed emergence of non-linguistic vocalizations in adults after frontal lobe pathologies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitating Vocabulary Acquisition of Young English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lugo-Neris, Mirza J.; Jackson, Carla Wood; Goldstein, Howard

2010-01-01

Purpose: This study examined whether English-only vocabulary instruction or English vocabulary instruction enhanced with Spanish bridging produced greater word learning in young Spanish-speaking children learning English during a storybook reading intervention while considering individual language characteristics. Method: Twenty-two…

Differentiating Second Language Acquisition from Specific Learning Disability: An Observational Tool Assessing Dual Language Learners' Pragmatic Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farnsworth, Megan

2018-01-01

Overrepresentation of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in special education remains a problem even after 40 years of inquiry. One factor is that the U.S. federal government has neither clearly explained the definition of Specific Learning Disability (SLD) nor operationally defined it to identify children for special education services. This lack of…

Language Tasks Using Touch Screen and Mobile Technologies: Reconceptualizing Task-Based CALL for Young Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellerin, Martine

2014-01-01

This article examines how the use of mobile technologies (iPods and tablets) in language classrooms contributes to redesigning task-based approaches for young language learners. The article is based on a collaborative action research (CAR) project in Early French Immersion classrooms in the province of Alberta, Canada. The data collection included…

Becoming "Spanish Learners": Identity and Interaction among Multilingual Children in a Spanish-English Dual Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martínez, Ramón Antonio; Durán, Leah; Hikida, Michiko

2017-01-01

This article explores the interactional co-construction of identities among two first-grade students learning Spanish as a third language in a Spanish-English dual language classroom. Drawing on ethnographic and interactional data, the article focuses on a single interaction between these two "Spanish learners" and two of their…

"More than Being in a Class": Adolescents' Ethnolinguistic Insights in a Two-Way Dual-Language Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kibler, Amanda; Salerno, April; Hardigree, Christine

2014-01-01

Much of the debate regarding outcomes of various types of dual-language programs has focused on linguistic and academic results, and with good reason: improving the educational outcomes of language minorities and supporting societal multilingualism are vital goals. More rarely explored, however, are these programs' ethnolinguistic outcomes: the…

Reading Dual Language Books: Improving Early Literacy Skills in Linguistically Diverse Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naqvi, Rahat; Thorne, Keoma J; Pfitscher, Christina M; Nordstokke, David W; McKeough, Anne

2013-01-01

Research has determined that dual language books have a positive effect on literacy achievement, motivation, and family involvement in children’s schooling. In this study we used quantitative methods to complement the largely qualitative extant research. We analyzed the early literacy skills of 105 kindergarten children (45 comparison, 60…

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…

Associations between Problem Behaviors and Early Vocabulary Skills among Hispanic Dual-Language Learners in Pre-K

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagan-Burke, Shanna; Soares, Denise A.; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Zhu, Leina; Davis, Heather S.; Kwok, Oi-man; Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn D.; Saenz, Laura M.; Resendez, Nora M.

2016-01-01

This study examined the relations between problem behaviors and early learning outcomes among 138 children in dual-language pre-K programs who were identified at the beginning of the school year to be at risk for difficulties in early language and literacy development. Children's expressive and receptive vocabulary, listening comprehension, and…

Language Insights for Caregivers with Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honig, Alice Sterling

2017-01-01

How to help babies and young children right from birth to become competent in talking as well as emergent literacy is illustrated by research findings as well as with specific clinical stories. Both kinds of knowledge can serve to galvanize parents and teachers to increase awareness of infant and preschool language development and the crucial role…

Dual language versus English-only support for bilingual children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants and hearing aids.

PubMed

Bunta, Ferenc; Douglas, Michael; Dickson, Hanna; Cantu, Amy; Wickesberg, Jennifer; Gifford, René H

2016-07-01

There is a critical need to understand better speech and language development in bilingual children learning two spoken languages who use cochlear implants (CIs) and hearing aids (HAs). The paucity of knowledge in this area poses a significant barrier to providing maximal communicative outcomes to a growing number of children who have a hearing loss (HL) and are learning multiple spoken languages. In fact, the number of bilingual individuals receiving CIs and HAs is rapidly increasing, and Hispanic children display a higher prevalence of HL than the general population of the United States. In order to serve better bilingual children with CIs and HAs, appropriate and effective therapy approaches need to be designed and tested, based on research findings. This study investigated the effects of supporting both the home language (Spanish) and the language of the majority culture (English) on language outcomes in bilingual children with HL who use CIs and HAs as compared to their bilingual peers who receive English-only support. Retrospective analyses of language measures were completed for two groups of Spanish- and English-speaking bilingual children with HL who use CIs and HAs matched on a range of demographic and socio-economic variables: those with dual-language support versus their peers with English-only support. Dependent variables included scores from the English version of the Preschool Language Scales, 4th Edition. Bilingual children who received dual-language support outperformed their peers who received English-only support at statistically significant levels as measured by Total Language and Expressive Communication as raw and language age scores. No statistically significant group differences were found on Auditory Comprehension scores. In addition to providing support in English, encouraging home language use and providing treatment support in the first language may help rather than hinder development of both English and the home language in bilingual

Cross-Language Associations in the Development of Preschoolers' Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary.

PubMed

Maier, Michelle F; Bohlmann, Natalie L; Palacios, Natalia A

The increasing population of dual language learners (DLLs) entering preschool classrooms highlights a continued need for research on the development of dual language acquisition, and specifically vocabulary skills, in this age group. This study describes young DLL children's ( N = 177) vocabulary development in both English and Spanish simultaneously, and how vocabulary skills in each language relate to one another, during a contextual shift that places greater emphasis on the acquisition of academic English language skills. Findings demonstrated that DLL preschoolers made gains in vocabulary in both languages with more change evidenced in receptive, in comparison to expressive, vocabulary as well as in English in comparison to Spanish. When examining whether children's vocabulary scores in one language at the beginning of preschool interact with their vocabulary scores in the other language to predict vocabulary growth, no significant associations were found for receptive vocabulary. In contrast, the interaction between initial English and Spanish expressive vocabulary scores was negatively related to growth in English expressive vocabulary. This cross-language association suggests that children who have low expressive vocabulary skills in both languages tend to grow faster in their English expressive vocabulary. The study extends previous work on dual language development by examining growth in expressive and receptive vocabulary in both English and Spanish. It also provides suggestions for future work to inform a more comprehensive understanding of DLL children's development in both languages.

Learning to drive in young adults with language impairment.

PubMed

Durkin, Kevin; Toseeb, Umar; Pickles, Andrew; Botting, Nicola; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

2016-10-01

Language impairment (LI) is a common developmental disorder which affects many aspects of young people's functional skills and engagement with society. Little is known of early driving behaviour in those with this disability. This longitudinal study examines early driving experience in a sample of young adults with LI, compared with a sample of typically developing age-matched peers (AMPs). At age 24 years, significantly fewer participants with LI had acquired a driving licence. A crucial hurdle for those with LI appeared to be the Theory part of the (UK) test. Logistic regression analysis indicated that language ability and a measure of independence at age 17 contributed to the prediction of licence possession at age 24. There was no evidence of differences in traffic violations or accident rates between those with and without LI. There is little evidence that young people with LI are at greater risk on the roads than peers without LI, but some individuals with LI might benefit from support in the course of preparation for driving and in the driving test.

Influences of Phonological Context on Tense Marking in Spanish-English Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Combiths, Philip N.; Barlow, Jessica A.; Potapova, Irina; Pruitt-Lord, Sonja

2017-01-01

Purpose: The emergence of tense-morpheme marking during language acquisition is highly variable, which confounds the use of tense marking as a diagnostic indicator of language impairment in linguistically diverse populations. In this study, we seek to better understand tense-marking patterns in young bilingual children by comparing phonological…

A Quantitative Study Identifying Political Strategies Used by Principals of Dual Language Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Girard, Guadalupe

2017-01-01

Purpose. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the external and internal political strategies used by principals that allow them to successfully navigate the political environment surrounding dual language programs. Methodology. This quantitative study used descriptive research to collect, analyze, and report data that identified…

That's so Homophobic? Australian Young People's Perspectives on Homophobic Language Use in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fulcher, Karyn

2017-01-01

It is generally accepted that hearing homophobic language can be detrimental to the well-being of same-sex attracted young people. "Writing Themselves In 3," a survey of Australian same-sex attracted young people, found that almost half of the respondents reported hearing such language on a regular basis, and considered it offensive.…

Teaching and Learning the Language of Science: A Case Study of Academic Language Acquisition in a Dual Language Middle School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gose, Robin Margaretha

English language learners (EL) are the fastest growing sub-group of the student population in California, yet ELs also score the lowest on the science section of the California Standardized Tests. In the area of bilingual education, California has dramatically changed its approach to English learners since the passage of Proposition 227 in 1998, which called for most EL instruction to be conducted in English (Cummins, 2000; Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008). In reality, this means that EL students are often placed in programs that focus on basic language skills rather than rigorous content, meaning that they are not getting access to grade level science content (Lee & Fradd, 1998). As a result, many EL students exit eighth grade without a strong foundation in science, and they continue to score below their English-speaking peers on standardized achievements. While the usefulness of the academic language construct remains controversial (Bailey, 2012), the language used in science instruction is nevertheless often unfamiliar to both EL and English proficient students. The discourse is frequently specialized for discipline-specific interactions and activities (Bailey, 2007; Lemke, 1990). This qualitative case study examined academic language instruction in three middle school science classrooms at a dual language charter school. The goal was to understand how teachers integrate academic language and content for linguistically diverse students. The findings fom this study indicate that targeting language instruction in isolation from science content instruction prohibits students from engaging in the "doing of science" and scientific discourse, or the ability to think, reason, and communicate about science. The recommendations of this study support authentically embedding language development into rigorous science instruction in order to maximize opportunities for learning in both domains.

A longitudinal study of auditory evoked field and language development in young children.

PubMed

Yoshimura, Yuko; Kikuchi, Mitsuru; Ueno, Sanae; Shitamichi, Kiyomi; Remijn, Gerard B; Hiraishi, Hirotoshi; Hasegawa, Chiaki; Furutani, Naoki; Oi, Manabu; Munesue, Toshio; Tsubokawa, Tsunehisa; Higashida, Haruhiro; Minabe, Yoshio

2014-11-01

The relationship between language development in early childhood and the maturation of brain functions related to the human voice remains unclear. Because the development of the auditory system likely correlates with language development in young children, we investigated the relationship between the auditory evoked field (AEF) and language development using non-invasive child-customized magnetoencephalography (MEG) in a longitudinal design. Twenty typically developing children were recruited (aged 36-75 months old at the first measurement). These children were re-investigated 11-25 months after the first measurement. The AEF component P1m was examined to investigate the developmental changes in each participant's neural brain response to vocal stimuli. In addition, we examined the relationships between brain responses and language performance. P1m peak amplitude in response to vocal stimuli significantly increased in both hemispheres in the second measurement compared to the first measurement. However, no differences were observed in P1m latency. Notably, our results reveal that children with greater increases in P1m amplitude in the left hemisphere performed better on linguistic tests. Thus, our results indicate that P1m evoked by vocal stimuli is a neurophysiological marker for language development in young children. Additionally, MEG is a technique that can be used to investigate the maturation of the auditory cortex based on auditory evoked fields in young children. This study is the first to demonstrate a significant relationship between the development of the auditory processing system and the development of language abilities in young children. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

English Language Testing of Very Young Children: The Case of Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Otomo, Ruriko

2016-01-01

Taking commercial English language tests is becoming common practice among young English learners in Japan. With a specific focus on the "Jido Eiken" test, this study examines English language test-taking activity by analyzing textual data retrieved from three data sources. "Jido Eiken" is found to represent a complex…

Building the Bridge as You Walk on It: Didactic Behaviors of Elementary Teachers in a Dual Language Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ray, Juliet M.

2008-01-01

While there is evidence that the dual language model has the potential to raise the academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the policies mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act do not support maintenance of the student's heritage language which is an integral part of the model. Using symbolic interactionism as a framework,…

Same Program, Distinctive Development: Exploring the Biliteracy Trajectories of Two Dual Language Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babino, Alexandra

2017-01-01

Using a mixed methods comparative case study, the researcher explored the dual language contexts at each school before examining the second- through fifth-grade Spanish and English reading biliteracy trajectories. While both campuses' students experienced positive trajectories toward biliteracy by the end of fifth grade, each campus was…

A Cultural Communities Approach to Understanding Head Start Teachers' Beliefs about Language Use with Dual Language Learners: Implications for Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garrity, Sarah; Guerra, Alison Wishard

2015-01-01

The school-readiness gap for Latino dual language learners in the United States has been well documented, despite a strong research base highlighting effective strategies and practices for supporting their academic success. However, current educational practices reflect the hegemonic discourse that, because the United States is an English-speaking…

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…

Sensitizing Young English Language Learners Towards Environmental Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castillo, Rigoberto; Rojas, María del Pilar

2014-01-01

This paper reports an action research study aimed at understanding how to sensitize young English language learners towards caring for the environment. The pedagogical intervention in a 5th grade class consisted in the use of creative writing strategies to express learners' ideas. Three stages were followed: "recognizing facts,"…

Is language necessary for human spatial reorientation? Reconsidering evidence from dual task paradigms.

PubMed

Ratliff, Kristin R; Newcombe, Nora S

2008-03-01

Being able to reorient to the spatial environment after disorientation is a basic adaptive challenge. There is clear evidence that reorientation uses geometric information about the shape of the surrounding space. However, there has been controversy concerning whether use of geometry is a modular function, and whether use of features is dependent on human language. A key argument for the role of language comes from shadowing findings where adults engaged in a linguistic task during reorientation ignored a colored wall feature and only used geometric information to reorient [Hermer-Vazquez, L., Spelke, E., & Katsnelson, A. (1999). Sources of flexibility in human cognition: Dual task studies of space and language. Cognitive Psychology, 39, 3-36]. We report three studies showing: (a) that the results of Hermer-Vazques et al. [Hermer-Vazquez, L., Spelke, E., & Katsnelson, A. (1999). Sources of flexibility in human cognition: Dual task studies of space and language. Cognitive Psychology, 39, 3-36] are obtained in incidental learning but not with explicit instructions, (b) that a spatial task impedes use of features at least as much as a verbal shadowing task, and (c) that neither secondary task impedes use of features in a room larger than that used by Hermer-Vazquez et al. These results suggest that language is not necessary for successful use of features in reorientation. In fact, whether or not there is an encapsulated geometric module is currently unsettled. The current findings support an alternative to modularity; the adaptive combination view hypothesizes that geometric and featural information are utilized in varying degrees, dependent upon the certainty and variance with which the two kinds of information are encoded, along with their salience and perceived usefulness.

Exploring the Value of Animated Stories with Young English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildirim, Rana; Torun, Fatma Pinar

2014-01-01

Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) through animated stories bears many prospects for an effective and meaningful language instruction as animated stories can help to contextualize the new language providing audiovisual input along with the story narration. In this study, the role of animated stories in teaching EFL (English as a Foreign…

Dual language versus English only support for bilingual children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants and hearing aids

PubMed Central

Bunta, Ferenc; Douglas, Michael; Dickson, Hanna; Cantu, Amy; Wickesberg, Jennifer; Gifford, René H.

2015-01-01

Background There is a critical need to better understand speech and language development in bilingual children learning two spoken languages who use cochlear implants (CIs) and hearing aids (HAs). The paucity of knowledge in this area poses a significant barrier to providing maximal communicative outcomes to a growing number of children who have a hearing loss and are learning multiple spoken languages. In fact, the number of bilingual individuals receiving CIs and HAs is rapidly increasing, and Hispanic children display a higher prevalence of hearing loss than the general population of the United States (e.g., Mehra, Eavey, & Keamy, 2009). In order to better serve bilingual children with CIs and HAs, appropriate and effective therapy approaches need to be designed and tested, based on research findings. Aims This study investigated the effects of supporting both the home language (Spanish) and the language of the majority culture (English) on language outcomes in bilingual children with hearing loss (HL) who use CIs and HAs as compared to their bilingual peers who receive English only support. Methods and Procedures Retrospective analyses of language measures were completed for two groups of Spanish-and English-speaking bilingual children with HL who use CIs and HAs matched on a range of demographic and socio-economic variables: those with dual language support versus their peers with English only support. Dependent variables included scores from the English version of the Preschool Language Scales, 4th edition. Results Bilingual children who received dual language support outperformed their peers who received English only support at statistically significant levels as measured by Total Language and Expressive Communication as raw and language age scores. No statistically significant group differences were found on Auditory Comprehension scores. Conclusions In addition to providing support in English, encouraging home language use and providing treatment support

Cross-Language Associations in the Development of Preschoolers’ Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary

PubMed Central

Maier, Michelle F.; Bohlmann, Natalie L.; Palacios, Natalia A.

2016-01-01

The increasing population of dual language learners (DLLs) entering preschool classrooms highlights a continued need for research on the development of dual language acquisition, and specifically vocabulary skills, in this age group. This study describes young DLL children's (N = 177) vocabulary development in both English and Spanish simultaneously, and how vocabulary skills in each language relate to one another, during a contextual shift that places greater emphasis on the acquisition of academic English language skills. Findings demonstrated that DLL preschoolers made gains in vocabulary in both languages with more change evidenced in receptive, in comparison to expressive, vocabulary as well as in English in comparison to Spanish. When examining whether children's vocabulary scores in one language at the beginning of preschool interact with their vocabulary scores in the other language to predict vocabulary growth, no significant associations were found for receptive vocabulary. In contrast, the interaction between initial English and Spanish expressive vocabulary scores was negatively related to growth in English expressive vocabulary. This cross-language association suggests that children who have low expressive vocabulary skills in both languages tend to grow faster in their English expressive vocabulary. The study extends previous work on dual language development by examining growth in expressive and receptive vocabulary in both English and Spanish. It also provides suggestions for future work to inform a more comprehensive understanding of DLL children's development in both languages. PMID:26807002

"!Luces, Camara, Accion!": A Classroom Teacher Research Analysis of Dual Language Students Translanguaging through One-Act Plays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Escalante, Lora Beth

2012-01-01

The study investigates how language is used among 17 children in a dual language classroom as they create academic-based one-act plays in conjunction with social studies instruction. Examining over 20 hours of video, the teacher researcher analyzes students' use of translanguaging during cooperative groupings in order to co-accomplish an…

Team Teaching among Mixed Messages: Implementing Two-Way Dual Language Bilingual Education at Third Grade in Texas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Deborah; Henderson, Kathryn; Wall, Dorothy; Zúñiga, Christian E.; Berthelsen, Stefan

2016-01-01

This article documents and interrogates top-down district-wide implementation of a two-way dual language bilingual education (DLBE) program in a large urban district. We carried out a language policy ethnography to explore the way two schools' teams of third grade teachers worked together to negotiate the intersection of DLBE implementation and…

Miranda Rights Comprehension in Young Adults With Specific Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Rost, Gwyneth C.; McGregor, Karla K.

2013-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether citizens with language impairment understand legal rights as conveyed in Miranda warnings. Method Grisso's Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights (1998) was administered to 34 young adults, half of whom met the diagnostic criteria for specific language impairment (SLI). A correlational analysis of the relationship between language scores and Miranda rights comprehension was conducted, as were tests of differences between individuals with SLI (n = 17) and individuals without SLI. Results Language ability was positively correlated with overall performance on the Miranda measure. As a group, individuals with SLI were significantly poorer than their peers with normal language at defining Miranda vocabulary and applying Miranda rights in hypothetical situations. The group with SLI was also marginally less able to paraphrase Miranda sentences. Conclusion Language impairment limits comprehension of Miranda warnings. As a result, citizens with language impairment are at risk of being denied their constitutional rights. PMID:22230180

Young men in 'crisis': attending to the language of teenage boys' distress.

PubMed

McQueen, Carolyn; Henwood, Karen

2002-11-01

The last two decades have seen a changing profile of young male mental health in Britain, including increased suicidal and parasuicidal behaviours. For mental health professionals to respond effectively and appropriately to meet these changing needs there needs to be further theorising and development of knowledge of young men's psychological processes and, in particular, how they make sense of their experiences within the cultural context of their lives. By drawing upon contemporary theories of subjectivities, this paper attempts to begin to address some of these issues. It looks in detail at two young men's accounts of their experiences of mental health problems. By using narrative, thematic and discourse analyses, the authors consider the cultural concepts the young men draw upon, and the language they use to voice their distress. The paper focuses on how gender and traditional masculinities constrain and influence the young men's narratives within the context of their individual life-histories and how these may become problematic for their mental health. The analyses provide a contemporary language-sensitive and culturally-sensitive reading of the young men's accounts of mental distress. It highlights how young men may talk about their distress in ways that are not immediately recognisable and extends the knowledge of the contemporary discourses used by young men in British society today. The implications for male subjectivities and mental health and therapeutic engagement are discussed.

Unpacking Ideologies of Linguistic Purism: How Dual Language Teachers Make Sense of Everyday Translanguaging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martínez, Ramón Antonio; Hikida, Michiko; Durán, Leah

2015-01-01

This article draws on qualitative data from two Spanish-English dual language elementary classrooms to explore how teachers in these classrooms made sense of the everyday practice of bilingualism. Methodologically, this study relied on participant observation, video recording, and semi-structured interviews. Conceptually, this article draws on the…

A Balancing Act: School Budgeting and Resource Allocation on a New Dual Language Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knight, David S.; Izquierdo, Elena; DeMatthews, David E.

2016-01-01

Dual language instructional models have great potential to create inclusive learning environments for traditional under-served students and boost student outcomes. However, principals face many barriers to implementation. One of the key challenges is aligning resources to ensure that the school has (a) an appropriate number of certificated…

Books on Adoption for Young Children: Looking at Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schimmel, Nancy; Love, Susan

1997-01-01

Books can inform, reassure, and give young children the vocabulary to talk about adoption. This article presents and examines the language used to talk about adoption in eleven current children's books. Discusses surrogacy, adoption, "natural" parents, grief, "chosen-baby" stories, age at adoption, international adoption,…

Brain Activation for Language Dual-Tasking: Listening to Two People Speak at the Same Time and a Change in Network Timing

PubMed Central

Buchweitz, Augusto; Keller, Timothy A.; Meyler, Ann; Just, Marcel Adam

2011-01-01

The study used fMRI to investigate brain activation in participants who were able to listen to and successfully comprehend two people speaking at the same time (dual-tasking). The study identified brain mechanisms associated with high-level, concurrent dual-tasking, as compared to comprehending a single message. Results showed an increase in the functional connectivity among areas of the language network in the dual task. The increase in synchronization of brain activation for dual-tasking was brought about primarily by a change in the timing of left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) activation relative to posterior temporal activation, bringing the LIFG activation into closer correspondence with temporal activation. The results show that the change in LIFG timing was greater in participants with lower working memory capacity, and that recruitment of additional activation in the dual-task occurred only in the areas adjacent to the language network that was activated in the single task. The shift in LIFG activation may be a brain marker of how the brain adapts to high-level dual-tasking. PMID:21618666

Brain activation for language dual-tasking: listening to two people speak at the same time and a change in network timing.

PubMed

Buchweitz, Augusto; Keller, Timothy A; Meyler, Ann; Just, Marcel Adam

2012-08-01

The study used fMRI to investigate brain activation in participants who were able to listen to and successfully comprehend two people speaking at the same time (dual-tasking). The study identified brain mechanisms associated with high-level, concurrent dual-tasking, as compared with comprehending a single message. Results showed an increase in the functional connectivity among areas of the language network in the dual task. The increase in synchronization of brain activation for dual-tasking was brought about primarily by a change in the timing of left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) activation relative to posterior temporal activation, bringing the LIFG activation into closer correspondence with temporal activation. The results show that the change in LIFG timing was greater in participants with lower working memory capacity, and that recruitment of additional activation in the dual-task occurred only in the areas adjacent to the language network that was activated in the single task. The shift in LIFG activation may be a brain marker of how the brain adapts to high-level dual-tasking. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Governmental Partnerships for Language Learning: A Commercial Language Platform for Young Workers in Colombia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

García Botero, Gustavo; García Botero, Jacqueline; Questier, Frederik

2017-01-01

In June 2015, the Colombian government via the Labor Ministry announced a project for young workers called "40.000 Primeros Empleos". In the framework of this project, the Ministry of Labor signed an alliance with the language platform Duolingo as a strategy to provide participants with English learning opportunities and a free language…

Meeting the needs of children and young people with speech, language and communication difficulties.

PubMed

Lindsay, Geoff; Dockrell, Julie; Desforges, Martin; Law, James; Peacey, Nick

2010-01-01

The UK government set up a review of provision for children and young people with the full range of speech, language and communication needs led by a Member of Parliament, John Bercow. A research study was commissioned to provide empirical evidence to inform the Bercow Review. To examine the efficiency and effectiveness of different arrangements for organizing and providing services for children and young people with needs associated with primary speech, language and communication difficulties. Six Local Authorities in England and associated Primary Care Trusts were selected to represent a range of locations reflecting geographic spread, urban/rural and prevalence of children with speech, language and communication difficulties. In each case study, interviews were held with the senior Local Authority manager for special educational needs and a Primary Care Trust senior manager for speech and language therapy. A further 23 head teachers or heads of specialist provision for speech, language and communication difficulties were also interviewed and policy documents were examined. A thematic analysis of the interviews produced four main themes: identification of children and young people with speech, language and communication difficulties; meeting their needs; monitoring and evaluation; and research and evaluation. There were important differences between Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts in the collection, analysis and use of data, in particular. There were also differences between Local Authority/Primary Care Trust pairs, especially in the degree to which they collaborated in developing policy and implementing practice. This study has demonstrated a lack of consistency across Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts. Optimizing provision to meet the needs of children and young people with speech, language and communication difficulties will require concerted action, with leadership from central government. The study was used by the Bercow Review whose

Young Children Learning English as a Second Language: An Intensive Summer Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sowers, Jayne

This paper describes the development and implementation of an intensive summer course in English as a Second Language (ESL) designed for children aged 4-5. Planning included development of a curriculum and instructional materials based on theory and practice in the teaching of young children, English language learning and instruction, and…

Language-Related Computer Use: Focus on Young L2 English Learners in Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sundqvist, Pia; Sylvén, Liss Kerstin

2014-01-01

This paper presents findings from a study investigating young English language learners (YELLs) in Sweden in 4th grade (N = 76, aged 10-11). Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and a one-week language diary. The main purpose was to examine the learners' L2 English language-related activities outside of school in general, and their…

Longitudinal Analyses of Expressive Language Development Reveal Two Distinct Language Profiles among Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Tek, Saime; Mesite, Laura; Fein, Deborah; Naigles, Letitia

2013-01-01

Although children with ASD show significant variation in language skills, research on what type(s) of language profiles they demonstrate has been limited. Using growth-curve analyses, we investigated how different groups of young children with ASD show increases in the size of their lexicon, morpho-syntactic production as measured by Brown’s 14 grammatical morphemes, and wh-question complexity, compared to TD children, across six time points. Children with ASD who had higher verbal skills were comparable to TD children on most language measures, whereas the children with ASD who had low verbal skills had flatter trajectories in most language measures. Thus, two distinct language profiles emerged for children with ASD. PMID:23719855

International Language Test Taking among Young Learners: A Hong Kong Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chik, Alice; Besser, Sharon

2011-01-01

Many children around the globe are learning English as a foreign language, especially in Asia. Numbers of participants and development of programs are increasing rapidly, as is a commercial testing movement targeted toward assessing this group of young learners. For example, the popular Cambridge Young Learners English test series has had more…

"I Like English Better": Latino Dual Language Students' Investment in Spanish, English, and Bilingualism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babino, Alexandra; Stewart, Mary Amanda

2017-01-01

This mixed-methodology study surveys 63 fifth graders in a one-way dual language school. Findings alarmingly indicate that although these students are native Spanish speakers in a school that delivers 50% of their instruction in Spanish, they prefer English both academically and socially. Subsequent interviews with 10 sample students of the larger…

Individual versus Peer Grit: Influence on Later Individual Literacy Achievement of Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neal, Colleen R.

2018-01-01

The objective of this short-term longitudinal study was to examine individual versus classroom peer effects of grit on later individual literacy achievement in elementary school. The dual language learner, largely Latina/o sample included students from the 3rd through the 5th grades. Participants completed a literacy achievement performance task…

Social Confidence in Early Adulthood Among Young People With and Without a History of Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Durkin, Kevin; Toseeb, Umar; Botting, Nicola; Pickles, Andrew

2017-01-01

Purpose The purposes of this study were to test the predictions that lower self-esteem and higher shyness in individuals with a history of language impairment (LI) would continue from adolescence into early adulthood and that those with LI would have lower social self-efficacy in early adulthood. Method Participants were young people with a history of LI and a comparison group of age-matched peers. Both groups were tested at ages 17 and 24 years. Participants completed measures of language ability, nonverbal IQ, shyness, global self-esteem, and (at age 24 years only) social self-efficacy. Results Young adults with LI scored lower than age-matched peers on self-esteem, higher on shyness, and lower on social self-efficacy (medium to large effect sizes). In line with expectations, in the group with LI, language ability in adolescence predicted shyness in young adulthood, which, in turn, was negatively associated with self-esteem. There was also a direct association between language ability in adolescence and self-esteem in young adulthood. Conclusions Young people with a history of LI are likely to be entering adulthood less socially confident than their peers. Interventions may be desirable for young adults with LI, and the present findings indicate social self-efficacy as a key area of social confidence that calls for practitioners' attention. PMID:28586830

Reasons behind Young Learners' Learning of Foreign Languages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akçay, Aslihan; Ferzan Bütüner, Tuba; Arikan, Arda

2015-01-01

English has become a compulsory lesson starting at the second grade in Turkey while younger learners are growingly introduced to it at earlier ages through various pre-schools, day-care programs and private courses. This descriptive study focuses on young learners' self-reported reasons for learning English and other foreign languages. Twenty…

Gaming as an English Language Learning Resource among Young Children in Denmark

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Signe Hannibal

2017-01-01

This article presents a study of Danish young English language learners' (YELLs') contact with and use of Extramural English (EE) (N = 107, aged 8 [n = 49] and 10 [n = 58]). They have received little formal English instruction: two lessons per week for one year. Data on EE-habits were collected with a one-week language diary (self-report with…

Translanguaging in a Latin@ Bilingual Community: Negotiations and Mediations in a Dual-Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garza, Armando; Langman, Juliet

2014-01-01

Considering a Latin@ fifth-grade dual-language classroom (Spanish/English) as a community of practice, this paper explores how a bilingual teacher and her bilingual students, as members of such community, utilize translanguaging (García, 2009) as a learning and teaching tool in social studies and science classes. In this particular classroom, the…

A Nonverbal Intervention for the Severely Language Disordered Young Child: An Intensive Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser, Diane Lynch

Designing therapeutic approaches for language-disordered young children calls for the coordination of communication skills across the three developmental pathways: motor, social-emotional, and language-cognitive. The case study presented in this document examines the effectiveness of a dance-movement therapy intervention conducted over a 2-year…

Education and employment outcomes of young adults with a history of developmental language disorder.

PubMed

Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Durkin, Kevin; Toseeb, Umar; Botting, Nicola; Pickles, Andrew

2018-03-01

Developmental language disorder (DLD) presents a considerable barrier for young adults to engage in further education and training. Early studies with young adults with DLD revealed poor educational achievement and lack of opportunities to progress in education. More recent studies have provided more positive findings. Relatively sparse data exist, however, on current cohorts and the factors that predict outcomes. To examine educational and employment outcomes in young adulthood in a sample of people with histories of DLD compared with an age-matched peer group without DLD. We ask: How do educational pathways and early jobs compare between those with and without DLD? Are young adults with DLD receiving similar levels of income as their peers? To what extent are language and literacy abilities associated with outcomes? Participants included 84 individuals with DLD (67% males) and 88 age-matched peers without DLD (56% males). Participants were on average 24 years of age. They completed a battery of psycholinguistic, literacy and nonverbal skills assessments. Data were also collected on educational qualifications, current educational status, extent of educational support received, employment status, history and support, as well as current income. Those with DLD obtained lower academic and vocational qualifications. Higher educational/vocational qualifications were associated with better language, better reading and higher performance IQ (PIQ). There were few differences between the two groups in terms of engagement with education, but the mean age at leaving education was significantly earlier in the participants with DLD. Substantially more participants with DLD reported receiving support or dispensation from their educational institution. There was no significant difference between groups in the proportion of young people currently employed, though a higher proportion of the age-matched peers was in work full time. Participants with DLD were much more likely to be

List memory in young adults with language learning disability.

PubMed

Sheng, Li; Byrd, Courtney T; McGregor, Karla K; Zimmerman, Hannah; Bludau, Kadee

2015-04-01

The purpose of this study was to characterize the verbal memory limitations of young adults with language learning disability (LLD). Sixteen young adults with LLD and 34 age- and education-matched controls with typical language participated in a Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM; Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) list recall experiment. Participants listened to 12-item word lists that converged on a nonpresented critical item (e.g., rain) semantically (umbrella, drench, weather, hail), phonologically (train, main, ran, wren), or dually in a hybrid list (umbrella, train, drench, main) and recalled words in no particular order. Group comparisons were made on veridical recall (i.e., words that were presented) and false recall of nonpresented critical items. Recall performance was analyzed by list type and list position to examine potential differences in the quality of memorial processes. The LLD group produced fewer veridical recalls than the controls. Both groups demonstrated list type and list position effects in veridical recall. False recall of the critical items was comparable in the 2 groups and varied by list type in predictable ways. Young adults with LLD have verbal memory limitations characterized by quantitatively low levels of accurate recall. Qualitative patterns of recall are similar to those of unaffected peers. Therefore, the memory problem is characterized by limited capacity; memorial processes appear to be intact.

List Memory in Young Adults With Language Learning Disability

PubMed Central

Byrd, Courtney T.; McGregor, Karla K.; Zimmerman, Hannah; Bludau, Kadee

2015-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to characterize the verbal memory limitations of young adults with language learning disability (LLD). Method Sixteen young adults with LLD and 34 age- and education-matched controls with typical language participated in a Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM; Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) list recall experiment. Participants listened to 12-item word lists that converged on a nonpresented critical item (e.g., rain) semantically (umbrella, drench, weather, hail), phonologically (train, main, ran, wren), or dually in a hybrid list (umbrella, train, drench, main) and recalled words in no particular order. Group comparisons were made on veridical recall (i.e., words that were presented) and false recall of nonpresented critical items. Recall performance was analyzed by list type and list position to examine potential differences in the quality of memorial processes. Results The LLD group produced fewer veridical recalls than the controls. Both groups demonstrated list type and list position effects in veridical recall. False recall of the critical items was comparable in the 2 groups and varied by list type in predictable ways. Conclusion Young adults with LLD have verbal memory limitations characterized by quantitatively low levels of accurate recall. Qualitative patterns of recall are similar to those of unaffected peers. Therefore, the memory problem is characterized by limited capacity; memorial processes appear to be intact. PMID:25652445

Dual Task Costs of Oral Reading for Young versus Older Adults

PubMed Central

Kemper, Susan; Bontempo, Daniel; Schmalzried, RaLynn; McKedy, Whitney; Tagliaferri, Bruno; Kieweg, Doug

2013-01-01

A digital pursuit rotor was used to monitor oral reading costs by time-locking tracking performance to the auditory wave form produced as young and older adults were reading out short paragraphs. Multilevel modeling was used to determine how paragraph-level predictors of length, grammatical complexity, and readability and person-level predictors such as speaker age or working memory capacity predicted reading and tracking performance. In addition, sentence-by-sentence variation in tracking performance was examined during the production of individual sentences and during the pauses before upcoming sentences. The results suggest that dual tasking has a greater impact on older adults’ reading comprehension and tracking performance. At the level of individual sentences, young and older adults adopt different strategies to deal with grammatically complex and propositionally dense sentences. PMID:23463405

Challenging the Monolingual Paradigm in Secondary Dual-Language Instruction: Reducing Language-as-Problem with the 2-1-L2 Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Przymus, Steve Daniel

2016-01-01

This study reports on an innovative approach to dual-language instruction (DLI) at the secondary-education level and introduces the 2-1-L2 model. The context of the study is an American Government class at a public charter high school in Tucson, Arizona, where the 2-1-L2 model was used for nine weeks to structure daily 90-minute lessons into a…

Is Overall Oral English Ability Related to Young Latinos' English Reading Growth?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitzgerald, Jill; Amendum, Steven J.; Relyea, Jackie Eunjung; Garcia, Sandra G.

2015-01-01

The present study investigated whether young Latino dual-language learners' 2-year English reading growth varied over time according to their initial overall oral English ability. We followed 41 Latino children for 2 years. We tested overall oral English at the beginning of the study and administered multiple curriculum-based reading assessments…

Coordinated Translanguaging Pedagogy as Distributed Cognition: A Case Study of Two Dual Language Bilingual Education Preschool Coteachers' Languaging Practices during Shared Book Readings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pontier, Ryan; Gort, Mileidis

2016-01-01

This study examined how a pair of Spanish/English dual language bilingual education (DLBE) preschool teachers enacted their bilingualism while working cohesively and simultaneously toward common instructional goals. We drew on classroom video data, field notes, and other relevant artifacts collected weekly during shared readings of English- and…

Role of Narrative Skills on Reading Comprehension: Spanish-English and Cantonese-English Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uchikoshi, Yuuko; Yang, Lu; Liu, Siwei

2018-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the role of narrative skills in English reading comprehension, after controlling for vocabulary and decoding, with a sample of 112 dual language learners (DLLs), including both Spanish-English and Cantonese-English children. Decoding, vocabulary, and narrative samples were collected in the winter of first grade and…

An Exploration of Elementary Teachers' Views of Informal Reading Inventories in Dual Language Bilingual Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ascenzi-Moreno, Laura

2016-01-01

This study examines how elementary teachers (grades three through five) in dual-language, bilingual programs (Spanish/English) view informal reading inventories (IRIs) to support their students' reading growth. The research, conducted in an urban district in the Northeastern United States, draws on interviews with 20 teachers in these programs.…

The Social and Cultural Contexts of Second Language Acquisition in Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soderman, Anne K.; Oshio, Toko

2008-01-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the social behaviour and competence of children, ages 3-6 as they progressed through the stages of second language acquisition in a dual-immersion program in English and Mandarin. Over 100 2-3 hour classroom observations were made during the school year. Teachers' evaluations of children's social…

Child Care Enrollment Decisions Among Dual Language Learner Families: The Role of Spanish Language Instruction in the Child Care Setting

PubMed Central

Miller, Elizabeth B.

2016-01-01

Data from the Head Start Impact Study (N = 1,141) and the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, 2009 Cohort (N = 825) were used to describe child care enrollment decisions among Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learner (DLL) families. In particular, logistic regression models tested which child, family, and institutional characteristics predicted enrollment in early care and education (ECE) settings that used Spanish for instruction versus enrollment in settings that did not use Spanish. Results showed that whether the child’s first language was exclusively Spanish and whether other DLL families previously attended the ECE arrangement strongly predicted whether that child enrolled. Policy implications for Head Start-eligible Spanish-speaking DLLs are discussed. PMID:26900255

Age Differences between Children and Young Adults in the Dynamics of Dual-Task Prioritization: Body (Balance) versus Mind (Memory)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaefer, Sabine; Krampe, Ralf Th.; Lindenberger, Ulman; Baltes, Paul B.

2008-01-01

Task prioritization can lead to trade-off patterns in dual-task situations. The authors compared dual-task performances in 9- and 11-year-old children and young adults performing a cognitive task and a motor task concurrently. The motor task required balancing on an ankle-disc board. Two cognitive tasks measured working memory and episodic memory…

The Feasibility and Usability of the Read It Again Dual Language and Literacy Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durán, Lillian K.; Gorman, Brenda K.; Kohlmeier, Theresa; Callard, Chase

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe the components, usability, and feasibility of a new Read it Again-Dual Language curriculum (RIA-DL; Durán et al. n.d.). The RIA-DL is based on the Read it Again-PreK! (Justice and McGinty 2009) and adapted to meet the unique needs of Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers. The curriculum targets…

The (Dis)inclusion of Latina/o Interests from Utah's Dual Language Education Boom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freire, Juan A.; Valdez, Verónica E.; Delavan, M. Garrett

2017-01-01

Utah's state planned model of dual language education has grown and spread rapidly. Drawing on critical race theory and LatCrit, we examined state policy documents and promotional materials for their discursive portrayal of Latinas/os. Our analysis revealed a pattern of centering the interests of the White, English-dominant majority and those…

Miranda Rights Comprehension in Young Adults with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rost, Gwyneth C.; McGregor, Karla K.

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether citizens with language impairment understand legal rights as conveyed in Miranda warnings. Method: Grisso's Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights (1998) was administered to 34 young adults, half of whom met the diagnostic criteria for specific language…

"¿Tu te Acuerdas de Ganchulinas?": Longitudinal Research with Young Emergent Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Axelrod, Ysaaca

2014-01-01

Drawing on the work of Celia Genishi, this article discusses data from an ethnographic case study of young Latina/o children, starting in their four-year-olds classroom in a Head Start Program through their first grade year in a dual-language program in a public school. The children attended a bilingual Head Start program that followed a…

Buenos Dias! Good Morning! Implementing Dual-Language Programs in Illinois. New Journalism on Latino Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bridges, Margaret; McElmurry, Sara

2010-01-01

Bilingual education has taken center stage in Illinois with a new education mandate; many public preschools will be required to offer bilingual education to all three- and four-year-olds who do not speak English. Dual-language (DL) classrooms represent one very promising model in bilingual education that is being used to develop these new…

Restorative Justice Conferencing, Oral Language Competence, and Young Offenders: Are These High-Risk Conversations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, Pamela

2013-01-01

This article is concerned with the oral language demands (both talking and listening) associated with restorative justice conferencing--an inherently highly verbal and conversational process. Many vulnerable young people (e.g., those in the youth justice system) have significant, yet unidentified language impairments, and these could compromise…

Education and Employment Outcomes of Young Adults with a History of Developmental Language Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Durkin, Kevin; Toseeb, Umar; Botting, Nicola; Pickles, Andrew

2018-01-01

Background: Developmental language disorder (DLD) presents a considerable barrier for young adults to engage in further education and training. Early studies with young adults with DLD revealed poor educational achievement and lack of opportunities to progress in education. More recent studies have provided more positive findings. Relatively…

Morphological Family Size Effects in Young First and Second Language Learners: Evidence of Cross-Language Semantic Activation in Visual Word Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Zeeuw, Marlies; Verhoeven, Ludo; Schreuder, Robert

2012-01-01

This study examined to what extent young second language (L2) learners showed morphological family size effects in L2 word recognition and whether the effects were grade-level related. Turkish-Dutch bilingual children (L2) and Dutch (first language, L1) children from second, fourth, and sixth grade performed a Dutch lexical decision task on words…

Strategies for Managing the Dual Risk of Sexually Transmitted Infections and Unintended Pregnancy Among Puerto Rican and African American Young Adults

PubMed Central

Hock-Long, Linda; Kraft, Joan Marie; Henry-Moss, Dare; Hatfield-Timajchy, Kendra; Singer, Merrill

2012-01-01

Although young adults in the United States are at increased risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy, they do not report high rates of dual-method use (condoms plus other contraception) for prevention. We used prospective qualitative data from 69 urban Puerto Rican and African American individuals aged 18 to 25 years to determine how they managed these risks in their heterosexual relationships during a 4- to 8-week period. Hormonal or long-acting contraceptive use, condoms, and withdrawal were the most common unintended pregnancy prevention strategies; condoms, STI testing, and perceived fidelity were dominant among STI prevention strategies. We need to shift the focus from dual-method use toward a broader concept of dual protection to be more responsive to young adults’ concerns, perceptions, and priorities. PMID:22390507

Investigating Adult Language Input and Young Children's Responses in Naturalistic Environments: An Observational Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marinac, Julie V.; Woodyatt, Gail C.; Ozanne, Anne E.

2008-01-01

This paper reports the design and trial of an original Observational Framework for quantitative investigation of young children's responses to adult language in their typical language learning environments. The Framework permits recording of both the response expectation of the adult utterances, and the degree of compliance in the child's…

Critically Examining the Agency and Professional Identity Development of Novice Dual Language Teachers through Figured Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varghese, Manka M.; Snyder, Rachel

2018-01-01

Drawing on the concept of figured worlds, we examined how four preservice teachers in a monoglossically oriented teacher preparation program developed their professional identities and sense of agency as dual language teachers. Figured worlds are socially constructed and culturally recognized realms with a story line and actors who also actively…

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…

English Language Education among Young Learners in East Asia: A Review of Current Research (2004-2014)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto

2015-01-01

The teaching of foreign languages to young learners is growing in popularity around the world. Research in this field, particularly of English as a second/foreign language education in East Asia, is a relatively new area of empirical inquiry, and it has the potential to make significant contributions to child second-language acquisition…

Mirror neurons, language, and embodied cognition.

PubMed

Perlovsky, Leonid I; Ilin, Roman

2013-05-01

Basic mechanisms of the mind, cognition, language, its semantic and emotional mechanisms are modeled using dynamic logic (DL). This cognitively and mathematically motivated model leads to a dual-model hypothesis of language and cognition. The paper emphasizes that abstract cognition cannot evolve without language. The developed model is consistent with a joint emergence of language and cognition from a mirror neuron system. The dual language-cognition model leads to the dual mental hierarchy. The nature of cognition embodiment in the hierarchy is analyzed. Future theoretical and experimental research is discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Dual-Task Does Not Increase Slip and Fall Risk in Healthy Young and Older Adults during Walking

PubMed Central

Soangra, Rahul

2017-01-01

Dual-task tests can identify gait characteristics peculiar to fallers and nonfallers. Understanding the relationship between gait performance and dual-task related cognitive-motor interference is important for fall prevention. Dual-task adapted changes in gait instability/variability can adversely affect fall risks. Although implicated, it is unclear if healthy participants' fall risks are modified by dual-task walking conditions. Seven healthy young and seven healthy older adults were randomly assigned to normal walking and dual-task walking sessions with a slip perturbation. In the dual-task session, the participants walked and simultaneously counted backwards from a randomly provided number. The results indicate that the gait changes in dual-task walking have no destabilizing effect on gait and slip responses in healthy individuals. We also found that, during dual-tasking, healthy individuals adopted cautious gait mode (CGM) strategy that is characterized by reduced walking speed, shorter step length, increased step width, and reduced heel contact velocity and is likely to be an adaptation to minimize attentional demand and decrease slip and fall risk during limited available attentional resources. Exploring interactions between gait variability and cognitive functions while walking may lead to designing appropriate fall interventions among healthy and patient population with fall risk. PMID:28255224

The Language Use Inventory for Young Children: A Parent-Report Measure of Pragmatic Language Development for 18- to 47-Month-Old Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neill, Daniela K.

2007-01-01

Purpose: To demonstrate the internal reliability and discriminative validity of the Language Use Inventory for Young Children (LUI; D. K. O'Neill, 2002), a newly developed parent-report measure designed to assess pragmatic language development in 18-47-month-olds. Method: To examine internal reliability, the LUI was completed by mail by 177…

School-Age Prework Experiences of Young People with a History of Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durkin, Kevin; Fraser, Jill; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

2012-01-01

Young people with specific language impairment (SLI) are at risk for poorer outcomes with respect to employment in adulthood, yet little is known of how early school-age prework experiences prepare them for the job market. This study examined whether young people with SLI engage in similar types of early work experiences as their typically…

Do dual-route models accurately predict reading and spelling performance in individuals with acquired alexia and agraphia?

PubMed

Rapcsak, Steven Z; Henry, Maya L; Teague, Sommer L; Carnahan, Susan D; Beeson, Pélagie M

2007-06-18

Coltheart and co-workers [Castles, A., Bates, T. C., & Coltheart, M. (2006). John Marshall and the developmental dyslexias. Aphasiology, 20, 871-892; Coltheart, M., Rastle, K., Perry, C., Langdon, R., & Ziegler, J. (2001). DRC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Psychological Review, 108, 204-256] have demonstrated that an equation derived from dual-route theory accurately predicts reading performance in young normal readers and in children with reading impairment due to developmental dyslexia or stroke. In this paper, we present evidence that the dual-route equation and a related multiple regression model also accurately predict both reading and spelling performance in adult neurological patients with acquired alexia and agraphia. These findings provide empirical support for dual-route theories of written language processing.

Exploring the Influence of 21st Century Skills in a Dual Language Program: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heinrichs, Christine R.

2016-01-01

Preparing students as 21st century learners is a key reform in education. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed a framework that identifies outcomes needed for successful implementation of rigorous standards. The Dual Language (DL) program was identified as a structure for reform with systems and practices which can be used to prepare…

Young Learners' Interactional Development in Task-Based Paired-Assessment in Their First and Foreign Languages: A Case of English Learners in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto; Zeng, Wei

2015-01-01

In response to the growing interest in evaluating young learners' foreign language (FL) performance, this study aims to deepen our understanding of young learners' developmental differences in interaction during task-based paired-language assessments. To examine age effects separately from the effect of general language proficiency, we analysed…

Steps toward Unifying Dual Language Programs, Common Core State Standards, and Critical Pedagogy: Oportunidades, Estrategias Y Retos

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alfaro, Cristina; Durán, Richard; Hunt, Alexandra; Aragón, María José

2014-01-01

Recent education reforms have begun to reframe academic discussion and teacher practice surrounding bilingual educational approaches for preparing "21st century, college and career ready" citizens. Given this broader context, in this article we examine ways that we might join implementation of dual language programs, Common Core State…

Investigating the Physiological and Psychosocial Responses of Single- and Dual-Player Exergaming in Young Adults.

PubMed

Mackintosh, Kelly A; Standage, Martyn; Staiano, Amanda E; Lester, Leanne; McNarry, Melitta A

2016-12-01

This study investigated the effect of acute exergaming on the physiological and psychosocial responses of young adults and the modulatory effect of a single- or dual-player game play situation. Thirty-six participants (19 male; 21.7 ± 3.8 years; 23.65 ± 3.17 kg/m 2 ) each completed two 30-minute exergame sessions in a randomized order (single and dual player) while wearing an Actiheart ® to estimate energy expenditure. Positive and negative affect, subjective vitality, and indices of intrinsic motivation were assessed directly after each gaming bout. There was no significant difference in energy expenditure or psychosocial outcomes between conditions. Although males expended more energy than females in both single- (z = -2.124, P = 0.033) and dual-player situations (z = -2.679, P = 0.007), females reported significantly greater vitality (z = -2.219, P = 0.026) and effort/importance than males (z = -2.001, P = 0.045). Conversely, males reported a greater negative affect (z = -2.872, P = 0.004) and pressure/tension (z = -3.295, P = 0.001). A linear mixed effects model revealed that energy expenditure during exergaming was a significant predictor of interest and enjoyment (P = 0.001) and effort and importance (P = 0.001). This relationship between energy expenditure and psychosocial variables was not modulated by sex or order of gameplay (single or dual player first). The present results suggest that females have a more positive psychosocial response to exergaming relative to males, highlighting exergames such as Wii™ boxing as a potential avenue for future interventions seeking to address the low physical activity levels that characterize the young adult population.

Dual-stream accounts bridge the gap between monkey audition and human language processing. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael Arbib

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrod, Simon; Pickering, Martin J.

2016-03-01

Over the last few years there has been a resurgence of interest in dual-stream dorsal-ventral accounts of language processing [4]. This has led to recent attempts to bridge the gap between the neurobiology of primate audition and human language processing with the dorsal auditory stream assumed to underlie time-dependent (and syntactic) processing and the ventral to underlie some form of time-independent (and semantic) analysis of the auditory input [3,10]. Michael Arbib [1] considers these developments in relation to his earlier Mirror System Hypothesis about the origins of human language processing [11].

Supporting Young Indigenous Children's Language Development in Canada: A Review of Research on Needs and Promising Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ball, Jessica

2009-01-01

This article offers an original review of research and reports about young Indigenous children's language development needs and approaches to meeting them. The review addresses not only children's acquisition of an Indigenous language but also their acquisition of other languages (e.g., English and French), because their progress in one linguistic…

Early social, imitation, play, and language abilities of young non-autistic siblings of children with autism.

PubMed

Toth, Karen; Dawson, Geraldine; Meltzoff, Andrew N; Greenson, Jessica; Fein, Deborah

2007-01-01

Studies are needed to better understand the broad autism phenotype in young siblings of children with autism. Cognitive, adaptive, social, imitation, play, and language abilities were examined in 42 non-autistic siblings and 20 toddlers with no family history of autism, ages 18-27 months. Siblings, as a group, were below average in expressive language and composite IQ, had lower mean receptive language, adaptive behavior, and social communication skills, and used fewer words, distal gestures, and responsive social smiles than comparison children. Additionally, parents reported social impairments in siblings by 13 months of age. These results suggest that the development of young non-autistic siblings is affected at an early age and, thus, should be closely monitored, with appropriate interventions implemented as needed.

Early Social, Imitation, Play, and Language Abilities of Young Non-Autistic Siblings of Children with Autism

PubMed Central

Dawson, Geraldine; Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Greenson, Jessica; Fein, Deborah

2008-01-01

Studies are needed to better understand the broad autism phenotype in young siblings of children with autism. Cognitive, adaptive, social, imitation, play, and language abilities were examined in 42 non-autistic siblings and 20 toddlers with no family history of autism, ages 18–27 months. Siblings, as a group, were below average in expressive language and composite IQ, had lower mean receptive language, adaptive behavior, and social communication skills, and used fewer words, distal gestures, and responsive social smiles than comparison children. Additionally, parents reported social impairments in siblings by 13 months of age. These results suggest that the development of young non-autistic siblings is affected at an early age and, thus, should be closely monitored, with appropriate interventions implemented as needed. PMID:17216560

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…

Tracking reading: dual task costs of oral reading for young versus older adults.

PubMed

Kemper, Susan; Bontempo, Daniel; Schmalzried, RaLynn; McKedy, Whitney; Tagliaferri, Bruno; Kieweg, Doug

2014-02-01

A digital pursuit rotor was used to monitor oral reading costs by time-locking tracking performance to the auditory wave form produced as young and older adults were reading out short paragraphs. Multilevel modeling was used to determine how paragraph-level predictors of length, grammatical complexity, and readability and person-level predictors such as speaker age or working memory capacity predicted reading and tracking performance. In addition, sentence-by-sentence variation in tracking performance was examined during the production of individual sentences and during the pauses before upcoming sentences. The results suggest that dual tasking has a greater impact on older adults' reading comprehension and tracking performance. At the level of individual sentences, young and older adults adopt different strategies to deal with grammatically complex and propositionally dense sentences.

Meaning Making and Translanguaging in a Two-Way Dual-Language Program on the U.S.-Mexico Border

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esquinca, Alberto; Araujo, Blanca; de la Piedra, María Teresa

2014-01-01

The article analyzes meaning-making practices in a two-way dual-language (TWDL) program on the U.S.-Mexico border among "transfronterizo" and Mexican-origin youth. In the article, we show that emergent bilingual learners and their teacher participate in activities that mediate understanding of science content knowledge. We show how the…

Examining the Relationship between Emergent Literacy Skills and Invented Spelling in Prekindergarten Spanish-Speaking Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pendergast, Meghan; Bingham, Gary; Patton-Terry, Nicole

2015-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine associations among English and Spanish emergent literacy skills of prekindergarten (pre-K) Spanish-speaking dual language learners in relation to their English invented spelling. Study participants included 141 Spanish-speaking 4-year-old children enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs in a large…

Performance of Low-Income Dual Language Learners Attending English-Only Schools on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition, Spanish.

PubMed

Barragan, Beatriz; Castilla-Earls, Anny; Martinez-Nieto, Lourdes; Restrepo, M Adelaida; Gray, Shelley

2018-04-05

The aim of this study was to examine the performance of a group of Spanish-speaking, dual language learners (DLLs) who were attending English-only schools and came from low-income and low-parental education backgrounds on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition, Spanish (CELF-4S; Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2006). Spanish-speaking DLLs (N = 656), ages 5;0 (years;months) to 7;11, were tested for language impairment (LI) using the core language score of the CELF-4S and the English Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test (Dawson, Stout, & Eyer, 2003). A subsample (n = 299) was additionally tested using a Spanish language sample analysis and a newly developed Spanish morphosyntactic measure, for identification of children with LI and to conduct a receiver operating characteristics curve analysis. Over 50% of the sample scored more than 1 SD below the mean on the core language score. In our subsample, the sensitivity of the CELF-4S was 94%, and specificity was 65%, using a cutoff score of 85 as suggested in the manual. Using an empirically derived cutoff score of 78, the sensitivity was 86%, and the specificity was 80%. Results suggest that the CELF-4S overidentifies low-income Spanish-English DLLs attending English-only schools as presenting with LI. For this sample, 1 in every 3 Latino children from low socioeconomic status was incorrectly identified with LI. Clinicians should be cautious when using the CELF-4S to evaluate low-income Spanish-English DLLs and ensure that they have converging evidence before making diagnostic decisions.

Bridging Academic Discourse for Emergent Bilingual Preschoolers: A Spanish-English Dual Language Teacher's Instructional Practices and Extratextual Talk during Shared Readings across Two Different Genres and Languages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sembiante, Sabrina F.

2013-01-01

This qualitative case study examines the nature of a dual language preschool teacher's instructional practices and extratextual talk during shared-book reading practices with two different genres of books in Spanish and English. Specifically, I explore the interpersonal, ideational, and textual features of one teacher's talk in English- and…

Nurturing Young Gifted English Language Learners: A Survival Guide for Parents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smutny, Joan F.

2012-01-01

For many young gifted English Language Learners (ELLs), going to an American school is like a trip to Mars. Everything and everyone looks strange. Many ELLs feel unsure of their abilities when they discover that their proficiency in English can sometimes hinder achievement. They wonder what the other kids think of their speech, their accents,…

Righting Past Wrongs: A Superintendent's Social Justice Leadership for Dual Language Education along the U.S.-Mexico Border

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMatthews, David; Izquierdo, Elena; Knight, David S.

2017-01-01

The role of superintendents in adopting and developing dual language education and other equity-oriented reforms that support the unique needs of Latina/o emergent bilinguals is a relatively unexplored area in educational leadership and policy research. Drawing upon theories of social justice leadership, this article examines how one…

Young Children as Language Policy-Makers: Studies of Interaction in Preschools in Finland and Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Sally; Huss, Leena

2017-01-01

This special issue has as its focus the agency of young children in relation to language policy and practice in bi- and multilingual preschools in Finland and Sweden. Studies of language policy in practice in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in these two countries can be particularly relevant even to those in other contexts, because they…

Postschool Educational and Employment Experiences of Young People with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Durkin, Kevin

2012-01-01

Purpose: This study examined the postschool educational and employment experiences of young people with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Nineteen-year-olds with (n = 50) and without (n = 50) SLI were interviewed on their education and employment experiences since finishing compulsory secondary education. Results: On average,…

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

Norms and stigma around unintended pregnancy in Alabama: Associations with recent contraceptive use and dual method use among young women.

PubMed

Rice, Whitney S; Turan, Bulent; White, Kari; Turan, Janet M

2017-12-14

The role of unintended pregnancy norms and stigma in contraceptive use among young women is understudied. This study investigated relationships between anticipated reactions from others, perceived stigma, and endorsed stigma concerning unintended pregnancy, with any and dual contraceptive use in this population. From November 2014 to October 2015, young women aged 18-24 years (n = 390) and at risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections participated in a survey at a university and public health clinics in Alabama. Multivariable regression models examined associations of unintended pregnancy norms and stigma with contraceptive use, adjusted for demographic and psychosocial characteristics. Compared to nonusers, more any and dual method users, were White, nulliparous, and from the university and had higher income. In adjusted models, anticipated disapproval of unintended pregnancy by close others was associated with greater contraceptive use (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 1.54, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.03-2.30), and endorsement of stigma concerning unintended pregnancy was associated with lower odds of dual method use (aOR = 0.71, 95 percent CI = 0.51-1.00). Unintended pregnancy norms and stigma were associated with contraceptive behavior among young women in Alabama. Findings suggest the potential to promote effective contraceptive use in this population by leveraging close relationships and addressing endorsed stigma.

More or Less Likely to Offend? Young Adults with a History of Identified Developmental Language Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winstanley, Maxine; Webb, Roger T.; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

2018-01-01

Background: There is now substantial literature demonstrating that a disproportionate number of young people who come into contact with youth justice services evidence unidentified language difficulties. These young people, therefore, have received little or no professional input in this area. Conversely, there is a dearth of research pertaining…

Predictors of Performance on an iPad-Based Reading Comprehension Intervention among Spanish-Speaking Dual Language Learners at Risk for Reading Comprehension Delays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Ashley

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the EMBRACE Spanish support intervention for at-risk dual language learners and to determine which verbal and nonverbal characteristics of students were related to benefit from the intervention. The first study examined oral language and reading characteristics and the second study…

Age differences between children and young adults in the dynamics of dual-task prioritization: body (balance) versus mind (memory).

PubMed

Schaefer, Sabine; Krampe, Ralf Th; Lindenberger, Ulman; Baltes, Paul B

2008-05-01

Task prioritization can lead to trade-off patterns in dual-task situations. The authors compared dual-task performances in 9- and 11-year-old children and young adults performing a cognitive task and a motor task concurrently. The motor task required balancing on an ankle-disc board. Two cognitive tasks measured working memory and episodic memory at difficulty levels individually adjusted during the course of extensive training. Adults showed performance decrements in both task domains under dual-task conditions. In contrast, children showed decrements only in the cognitive tasks but actually swayed less under dual-task than under single-task conditions and continued to reduce their body sway even when instructed to focus on the cognitive task. The authors argue that children perform closer to their stability boundaries in the balance task and therefore prioritize protection of their balance under dual-task conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of Strategy Instruction on Fourth-Grade Dual Language Learners' Ability to Monitor Their Comprehension of Scientific Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez-Alvarez, Patricia; Bannan, Brenda; Peters-Burton, Erin E.

2012-01-01

This research work examined the impact of a science-reading instructional sequence ("InSciRead") on fourth-grade Spanish-English dual language learners' ability to monitor their comprehension of content-related (erosion, deposition, and transportation) texts. We used a quantitative measure of students' ability to detect incongruities in a related…

Talk to Me, Baby! How You Can Support Young Children's Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bardige, Betty S.

2009-01-01

Playful, engaging talk with young children is much more than a social activity: it's the foundation of language, intellectual, and social-emotional development, and it's also the key to narrowing the achievement gap between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Now there's a practical, easy-to-read guidebook that shows professionals…

Social Competence and Oral Language Development for Young Children of Latino Immigrants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Bryant; Reese, Leslie; Hall-Kenyon, Kendra; Bennett, Courtney

2015-01-01

Research Findings: In this study we analyze how parent and teacher ratings of young Latino children's social competencies in rural California are associated with children's oral language development. We find (a) that there is considerable incongruence between parent and teacher ratings of child social competence, (b) that both parent and teacher…

Defining Spoken Language Benchmarks and Selecting Measures of Expressive Language Development for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Tager-Flusberg, Helen; Rogers, Sally; Cooper, Judith; Landa, Rebecca; Lord, Catherine; Paul, Rhea; Rice, Mabel; Stoel-Gammon, Carol; Wetherby, Amy; Yoder, Paul

2010-01-01

Purpose The aims of this article are twofold: (a) to offer a set of recommended measures that can be used for evaluating the efficacy of interventions that target spoken language acquisition as part of treatment research studies or for use in applied settings and (b) to propose and define a common terminology for describing levels of spoken language ability in the expressive modality and to set benchmarks for determining a child’s language level in order to establish a framework for comparing outcomes across intervention studies. Method The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders assembled a group of researchers with interests and experience in the study of language development and disorders in young children with autism spectrum disorders. The group worked for 18 months through a series of conference calls and correspondence, culminating in a meeting held in December 2007 to achieve consensus on these aims. Results The authors recommend moving away from using the term functional speech, replacing it with a developmental framework. Rather, they recommend multiple sources of information to define language phases, including natural language samples, parent report, and standardized measures. They also provide guidelines and objective criteria for defining children’s spoken language expression in three major phases that correspond to developmental levels between 12 and 48 months of age. PMID:19380608

Education and employment outcomes of young adults with a history of developmental language disorder

PubMed Central

Durkin, Kevin; Toseeb, Umar; Botting, Nicola; Pickles, Andrew

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Developmental language disorder (DLD) presents a considerable barrier for young adults to engage in further education and training. Early studies with young adults with DLD revealed poor educational achievement and lack of opportunities to progress in education. More recent studies have provided more positive findings. Relatively sparse data exist, however, on current cohorts and the factors that predict outcomes. Aims To examine educational and employment outcomes in young adulthood in a sample of people with histories of DLD compared with an age‐matched peer group without DLD. We ask: How do educational pathways and early jobs compare between those with and without DLD? Are young adults with DLD receiving similar levels of income as their peers? To what extent are language and literacy abilities associated with outcomes? Methods & Procedures Participants included 84 individuals with DLD (67% males) and 88 age‐matched peers without DLD (56% males). Participants were on average 24 years of age. They completed a battery of psycholinguistic, literacy and nonverbal skills assessments. Data were also collected on educational qualifications, current educational status, extent of educational support received, employment status, history and support, as well as current income. Outcomes & Results Those with DLD obtained lower academic and vocational qualifications. Higher educational/vocational qualifications were associated with better language, better reading and higher performance IQ (PIQ). There were few differences between the two groups in terms of engagement with education, but the mean age at leaving education was significantly earlier in the participants with DLD. Substantially more participants with DLD reported receiving support or dispensation from their educational institution. There was no significant difference between groups in the proportion of young people currently employed, though a higher proportion of the age‐matched peers was

Reflections of Diverse Voices: A Narrative Study Exploring the Relationship between Multicultural Dual Language Experiences and Cultural Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tinsley, Helen M.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative, narrative inquiry was to explore and analyze the narrative stories of native English speaking adults who matriculated through a multicultural, dual language program from prekindergarten to 6th grade to understand the influence of the program on their lives, and the relationship between those experiences and their…

Young Children Attribute Normativity to Novel Actions without Pedagogy or Normative Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Marco F. H.; Rakoczy, Hannes; Tomasello, Michael

2011-01-01

Young children interpret some acts performed by adults as normatively governed, that is, as capable of being performed either rightly or wrongly. In previous experiments, children have made this interpretation when adults introduced them to novel acts with normative language (e.g. "this is the way it goes"), along with pedagogical cues signaling…

Language Brokering, Acculturation, and Empowerment: Evidence from South Asian Canadian Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cila, Jorida; Lalonde, Richard N.

2015-01-01

The present study examined the practice of language brokering (LB) among South Asian Canadian college-age adults and how such practice relates to acculturation to mainstream and heritage cultures, as well as personal empowerment. One hundred and twenty-four young adults reported on three different indices of LB (brokering frequency, diversity of…

A single dual-stream framework for syntactic computations in music and language.

PubMed

Musso, Mariacristina; Weiller, Cornelius; Horn, Andreas; Glauche, Volkmer; Umarova, Roza; Hennig, Jürgen; Schneider, Albrecht; Rijntjes, Michel

2015-08-15

This study is the first to compare in the same subjects the specific spatial distribution and the functional and anatomical connectivity of the neuronal resources that activate and integrate syntactic representations during music and language processing. Combining functional magnetic resonance imaging with functional connectivity and diffusion tensor imaging-based probabilistic tractography, we examined the brain network involved in the recognition and integration of words and chords that were not hierarchically related to the preceding syntax; that is, those deviating from the universal principles of grammar and tonal relatedness. This kind of syntactic processing in both domains was found to rely on a shared network in the left hemisphere centered on the inferior part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), including pars opercularis and pars triangularis, and on dorsal and ventral long association tracts connecting this brain area with temporo-parietal regions. Language processing utilized some adjacent left hemispheric IFG and middle temporal regions more than music processing, and music processing also involved right hemisphere regions not activated in language processing. Our data indicate that a dual-stream system with dorsal and ventral long association tracts centered on a functionally and structurally highly differentiated left IFG is pivotal for domain-general syntactic competence over a broad range of elements including words and chords. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Meeting the Dual Goals of Content Knowledge and English Language Learning: A Study of the CCUEI Curriculum Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Xiaodan; Trube, Barbara; Yi, Chunlan

2011-01-01

This article reports a study on the China-Canada-United States English Immersion (CCUEI) Moral Education and Social Studies (MESS) curriculum materials for elementary classes (Grades 3-6) with the aim of learning how the curriculum addressed the dual goals of MESS content and English language learning. An analysis comparing the CCUEI third grade…

Partially Overlapping Mechanisms of Language and Task Control in Young and Older Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Weissberger, Gali H.; Wierenga, Christina E.; Bondi, Mark W.; Gollan, Tamar H.

2012-01-01

The current study tested the hypothesis that bilinguals rely on domain-general mechanisms of executive control to achieve language control by asking if linguistic and nonlinguistic switching tasks exhibit similar patterns of aging-related decline. Thirty young and 30 aging bilinguals completed a cued language-switching task and a cued color-shape switching task. Both tasks demonstrated significant aging effects, but aging-related slowing and the aging-related increase in errors were significantly larger on the color-shape than on the language task. In the language task, aging increased language-switching costs in both response times and errors, and language-mixing costs only in response times. In contrast, the color-shape task exhibited an aging-related increase in costs only in mixing errors. Additionally, a subset of the older bilinguals could not do the color-shape task, but were able to do the language task, and exhibited significantly larger language-switching costs than matched controls. These differences, and some subtle similarities, in aging effects observed across tasks imply that mechanisms of nonlinguistic task and language control are only partly shared and demonstrate relatively preserved language control in aging. More broadly, these data suggest that age deficits in switching and mixing costs may depend on task expertise, with mixing deficits emerging for less-practiced tasks and switching deficits for highly practiced, possibly “expert” tasks (i.e., language). PMID:22582883

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hahn, Laura J.; Brady, Nancy C.; Fleming, Kandace; 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…

Narratives of Second Language Identity amongst Young English Learners in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Besser, Sharon; Chik, Alice

2014-01-01

This article reports on an exploratory study responding to the problem of understanding how young learners position themselves as speakers of a foreign language. A group of 24 Hong Kong primary-school children (ages 10-12) who are in the process of simultaneously learning English and developing narratives of identities as English speakers,…

Dual Sticky Hierarchical Dirichlet Process Hidden Markov Model and Its Application to Natural Language Description of Motions.

PubMed

Hu, Weiming; Tian, Guodong; Kang, Yongxin; Yuan, Chunfeng; Maybank, Stephen

2017-09-25

In this paper, a new nonparametric Bayesian model called the dual sticky hierarchical Dirichlet process hidden Markov model (HDP-HMM) is proposed for mining activities from a collection of time series data such as trajectories. All the time series data are clustered. Each cluster of time series data, corresponding to a motion pattern, is modeled by an HMM. Our model postulates a set of HMMs that share a common set of states (topics in an analogy with topic models for document processing), but have unique transition distributions. For the application to motion trajectory modeling, topics correspond to motion activities. The learnt topics are clustered into atomic activities which are assigned predicates. We propose a Bayesian inference method to decompose a given trajectory into a sequence of atomic activities. On combining the learnt sources and sinks, semantic motion regions, and the learnt sequence of atomic activities, the action represented by the trajectory can be described in natural language in as automatic a way as possible. The effectiveness of our dual sticky HDP-HMM is validated on several trajectory datasets. The effectiveness of the natural language descriptions for motions is demonstrated on the vehicle trajectories extracted from a traffic scene.

Pediatric traumatic brain injury: language outcomes and their relationship to the arcuate fasciculus.

PubMed

Liégeois, Frédérique J; Mahony, Kate; Connelly, Alan; Pigdon, Lauren; Tournier, Jacques-Donald; Morgan, Angela T

2013-12-01

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) may result in long-lasting language impairments alongside dysarthria, a motor-speech disorder. Whether this co-morbidity is due to the functional links between speech and language networks, or to widespread damage affecting both motor and language tracts, remains unknown. Here we investigated language function and diffusion metrics (using diffusion-weighted tractography) within the arcuate fasciculus, the uncinate fasciculus, and the corpus callosum in 32 young people after TBI (approximately half with dysarthria) and age-matched healthy controls (n=17). Only participants with dysarthria showed impairments in language, affecting sentence formulation and semantic association. In the whole TBI group, sentence formulation was best predicted by combined corpus callosum and left arcuate volumes, suggesting this "dual blow" seriously reduces the potential for functional reorganisation. Word comprehension was predicted by fractional anisotropy in the right arcuate. The co-morbidity between dysarthria and language deficits therefore seems to be the consequence of multiple tract damage. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What automated vocal analysis reveals about the vocal production and language learning environment of young children with autism.

PubMed

Warren, Steven F; Gilkerson, Jill; Richards, Jeffrey A; Oller, D Kimbrough; Xu, Dongxin; Yapanel, Umit; Gray, Sharmistha

2010-05-01

The study compared the vocal production and language learning environments of 26 young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to 78 typically developing children using measures derived from automated vocal analysis. A digital language processor and audio-processing algorithms measured the amount of adult words to children and the amount of vocalizations they produced during 12-h recording periods in their natural environments. The results indicated significant differences between typically developing children and children with ASD in the characteristics of conversations, the number of conversational turns, and in child vocalizations that correlated with parent measures of various child characteristics. Automated measurement of the language learning environment of young children with ASD reveals important differences from the environments experienced by typically developing children.

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

Developmental trends in auditory processing can provide early predictions of language acquisition in young infants.

PubMed

Chonchaiya, Weerasak; Tardif, Twila; Mai, Xiaoqin; Xu, Lin; Li, Mingyan; Kaciroti, Niko; Kileny, Paul R; Shao, Jie; Lozoff, Betsy

2013-03-01

Auditory processing capabilities at the subcortical level have been hypothesized to impact an individual's development of both language and reading abilities. The present study examined whether auditory processing capabilities relate to language development in healthy 9-month-old infants. Participants were 71 infants (31 boys and 40 girls) with both Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) and language assessments. At 6 weeks and/or 9 months of age, the infants underwent ABR testing using both a standard hearing screening protocol with 30 dB clicks and a second protocol using click pairs separated by 8, 16, and 64-ms intervals presented at 80 dB. We evaluated the effects of interval duration on ABR latency and amplitude elicited by the second click. At 9 months, language development was assessed via parent report on the Chinese Communicative Development Inventory - Putonghua version (CCDI-P). Wave V latency z-scores of the 64-ms condition at 6 weeks showed strong direct relationships with Wave V latency in the same condition at 9 months. More importantly, shorter Wave V latencies at 9 months showed strong relationships with the CCDI-P composite consisting of phrases understood, gestures, and words produced. Likewise, infants who had greater decreases in Wave V latencies from 6 weeks to 9 months had higher CCDI-P composite scores. Females had higher language development scores and shorter Wave V latencies at both ages than males. Interestingly, when the ABR Wave V latencies at both ages were taken into account, the direct effects of gender on language disappeared. In conclusion, these results support the importance of low-level auditory processing capabilities for early language acquisition in a population of typically developing young infants. Moreover, the auditory brainstem response in this paradigm shows promise as an electrophysiological marker to predict individual differences in language development in young children. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Influence of Dual Language Education upon the Development of English Reading Skills of Kindergarten through Grade Two Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, Corey W.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this inductive and quantitative research study is to examine the influence of dual language education upon the development of literacy skills in English proficient kindergarten through grade 2 students. Secondly, this research is purposed to aid in filling the void in the limited way in which educational researchers have examined…

Achieving Academic Control in Two Languages: Drawing on the Psychology of Language Learning in Considering the Past, the Present, and Prospects for the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Andrew D.

2015-01-01

This paper first considers what it means to become truly proficient in a language other than the native one. It then looks briefly at the evolution of dual language programs. Next, it focuses on the issue of whether the first language (L1) or the second language (L2) serves as the language of mediation. Other dual language program issues are then…

The Impact of Stress on Later Literacy Achievement via Grit and Engagement among Dual Language Elementary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neal, Colleen R.

2018-01-01

The goal of this short-term longitudinal study was to identify how stress impacts later literacy achievement via the mediators of grit and emotional engagement. Study design included three time-points with students in 3rd through 5th grades who were low-income, dual language learners in the US (N = 142; 54% female; 75% Latina/o; M = 9.47 years…

Preparing Dual Language Teachers to Educate English Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craft-Coleman, Sylvia L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative embedded multiple case study was to explore the teaching strategies, skills, and knowledge received from English language learner professional development (ELLPD) trainings and seminars and how the application of ELLPD content affected communication with English language learners in the mainstream classroom. The…

A left cerebellar pathway mediates language in prematurely-born young adults

PubMed Central

Constable, R. Todd; Vohr, Betty R.; Scheinost, Dustin; Benjamin, Jennifer R.; Fulbright, Robert K.; Lacadie, Cheryl; Schneider, Karen C.; Katz, Karol H.; Zhang, Heping; Papademetris, Xenophon; Ment, Laura R.

2012-01-01

Preterm (PT) subjects are at risk for developmental delay, and task-based studies suggest that developmental disorders may be due to alterations in neural connectivity. Since emerging data imply the importance of right cerebellar function for language acquisition in typical development, we hypothesized that PT subjects would have alternate areas of cerebellar connectivity, and that these areas would be responsible for differences in cognitive outcomes between PT subjects and term controls at age 20 years. Nineteen PT and 19 term control young adults were prospectively studied using resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) to create voxel-based contrast maps reflecting the functional connectivity of each tissue element in the grey matter through analysis of the intrinsic connectivity contrast degree (ICC-d). Left cerebellar ICC-d differences between subjects identified a region of interest that was used for subsequent seed-based connectivity analyses. Subjects underwent standardized language testing, and correlations with cognitive outcomes were assessed. There were no differences in gender, hand preference, maternal education, age at study, or Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) scores. Functional connectivity (FcMRI) demonstrated increased tissue connectivity in the biventer, simple and quadrangular lobules of the L cerebellum (p<0.05) in PTs compared to term controls; seed-based analyses from these regions demonstrated alterations in connectivity from L cerebellum to both R and L inferior frontal gyri (IFG) in PTs compared to term controls. For PTs but not term controls, there were significant positive correlations between these connections and PPVT scores (R IFG: r=0.555, p=0.01; L IFG: r=0.454, p=0.05), as well as Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) scores (R IFG: r=0.472, p=0.04). These data suggest the presence of a left cerebellar language circuit in PT subjects at young adulthood. These findings may represent either a delay in maturation or the engagement of

Effective Dual Method Contraceptive Use and HPV Vaccination Among U.S. Adolescent and Young Adult Females

PubMed Central

Vanderpool, Robin C.; Williams, Corrine M.; Klawitter, Amy R.; Eddens, Katherine

2016-01-01

Background Problem Behavior Theory posits that risky behaviors cluster in individuals, implying that protective behaviors may follow a similar pattern. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the protective behavior of effective dual method contraception use at first and most recent sexual intercourse is associated with HPV vaccination among adolescent and young adult females. Methods National Survey of Family Growth (2006–2010) data were used to examine the association between women’s contraception use during first and most recent sexual intercourse and HPV vaccination. Women aged 15 to 24 years (n = 1,820) served as the study sample. Findings At first and last sexual intercourse, effective dual method contraception use was reported by 15.3% and 16.8% women, respectively; 27.8% reported receiving at least one dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Higher HPV vaccination rates were observed among dual method users at first and last sexual intercourse (36.4% and 48.2%, respectively). This trend was also observed across age groups (15–19 year olds vs. 20–24 year olds). In adjusted models, among all respondents, dual users at last sexual intercourse were significantly more likely to be vaccinated, whereas at first sexual intercourse only younger dual users were more likely to report HPV vaccination. Conclusions Findings suggest that the protective behavior of dual method contraceptive use at first and most recent sexual intercourse may serve as a predictor of another complementary health behavior, HPV vaccination, particularly among adolescent females. More research is needed to understand behavioral clustering to design related multi-focused women’s health interventions. PMID:25213746

Effective dual method contraceptive use and HPV vaccination among U.S. adolescent and young adult females.

PubMed

Vanderpool, Robin C; Williams, Corrine M; Klawitter, Amy R; Eddens, Katherine

2014-01-01

Problem Behavior Theory posits that risky behaviors cluster in individuals, implying that protective behaviors may follow a similar pattern. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the protective behavior of effective dual method contraception use at first and most recent sexual intercourse is associated with HPV vaccination among adolescent and young adult females. National Survey of Family Growth (2006-2010) data were used to examine the association between women's contraception use during first and most recent sexual intercourse and HPV vaccination. Women aged 15 to 24 years (n = 1,820) served as the study sample. At first and last sexual intercourse, effective dual method contraception use was reported by 15.3% and 16.8% women, respectively; 27.8% reported receiving at least one dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Higher HPV vaccination rates were observed among dual method users at first and last sexual intercourse (36.4% and 48.2%, respectively). This trend was also observed across age groups (15-19 year olds vs. 20-24 year olds). In adjusted models, among all respondents, dual users at last sexual intercourse were significantly more likely to be vaccinated, whereas at first sexual intercourse only younger dual users were more likely to report HPV vaccination. Findings suggest that the protective behavior of dual method contraceptive use at first and most recent sexual intercourse may serve as a predictor of another complementary health behavior, HPV vaccination, particularly among adolescent females. More research is needed to understand behavioral clustering to design related multi-focused women's health interventions. Copyright © 2014 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Should Bilingual Children Learn Reading in Two Languages at the Same Time or in Sequence?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berens, Melody S.; Kovelman, Ioulia; Petitto, Laura-Ann

2013-01-01

Is it best to learn reading in two languages simultaneously or sequentially? We observed second- and third-grade children in two-way "dual-language learning contexts": (a) 50:50 or Simultaneous dual-language (two languages within same developmental period) and (b) 90:10 or Sequential dual-language (one language, followed gradually by the other).…

Young children's family history of stuttering and their articulation, language and attentional abilities: An exploratory study.

PubMed

Choi, Dahye; Conture, Edward G; Tumanova, Victoria; Clark, Chagit E; Walden, Tedra A; Jones, Robin M

The purpose of this study was to determine whether young children who do (CWS) and do not stutter (CWNS) with a positive versus negative family history of stuttering differ in articulation, language and attentional abilities and family histories of articulation, language and attention related disorders. Participants were 25 young CWS and 50 young CWNS. All 75 participants' caregivers consistently reported a positive or negative family history of stuttering across three consecutive time points that were about 8 months apart for a total of approximately 16 months. Each participant's family history focused on the same, relatively limited number of generations (i.e., participants' parents & siblings). Children's family history of stuttering as well as articulation, language, and attention related disorders was obtained from one or two caregivers during an extensive interview. Children's speech and language abilities were measured using four standardized articulation and language tests and their attentional abilities were measured using caregiver reports of temperament. Findings indicated that (1) most caregivers (81.5% or 75 out 92) were consistent in their reporting of positive or negative history of stuttering; (2) CWNS with a positive family history of stuttering, compared to those with a negative family history of stuttering, were more likely to have reported a positive family history of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and (3) CWNS with a positive family history of stuttering had lower language scores than those with a negative family history of stuttering. However, there were no such significant differences in family histories of ADHD and language scores for CWS with a positive versus negative family history of stuttering. In addition, although 24% of CWS versus 12% of CWNS's caregivers reported a positive family history of stuttering, inferential analyses indicated no significant differences between CWS and CWNS in relative proportions of family

What Automated Vocal Analysis Reveals about the Vocal Production and Language Learning Environment of Young Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Steven F.; Gilkerson, Jill; Richards, Jeffrey A.; Oller, D. Kimbrough; Xu, Dongxin; Yapanel, Umit; Gray, Sharmistha

2010-01-01

The study compared the vocal production and language learning environments of 26 young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to 78 typically developing children using measures derived from automated vocal analysis. A digital language processor and audio-processing algorithms measured the amount of adult words to children and the amount of…

Six principles of language development: implications for second language learners.

PubMed

Konishi, Haruka; Kanero, Junko; Freeman, Max R; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy

2014-01-01

The number of children growing up in dual language environments is increasing in the United States. Despite the apparent benefits of speaking two languages, children learning English as a second language (ESL) often face struggles, as they may experience poverty and impoverished language input at home. Early exposure to a rich language environment is crucial for ESL children's academic success. This article explores how six evidenced-based principles of language learning can be used to provide support for ESL children.

What Box: A task for assessing language lateralization in young children.

PubMed

Badcock, Nicholas A; Spooner, Rachael; Hofmann, Jessica; Flitton, Atlanta; Elliott, Scott; Kurylowicz, Lisa; Lavrencic, Louise M; Payne, Heather M; Holt, Georgina K; Holden, Anneka; Churches, Owen F; Kohler, Mark J; Keage, Hannah A D

2018-07-01

The assessment of active language lateralization in infants and toddlers is challenging. It requires an imaging tool that is unintimidating, quick to setup, and robust to movement, in addition to an engaging and cognitively simple language processing task. Functional Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (fTCD) offers a suitable technique and here we report on a suitable method to elicit active language production in young children. The 34-second "What Box" trial presents an animated face "searching" for an object. The face "finds" a box that opens to reveal a to-be-labelled object. In a sample of 95 children (1 to 5 years of age), 81% completed the task-32% with ≥10 trials. The task was validated (ρ = 0.4) against the gold standard Word Generation task in a group of older adults (n = 65, 60-85 years of age), though was less likely to categorize lateralization as left or right, indicative of greater measurement variability. Existing methods for active language production have been used with 2-year-old children while passive listening has been conducted with sleeping 6-month-olds. This is the first active method to be successfully employed with infants through to pre-schoolers, forming a useful tool for populations in which complex instructions are problematic.

The Two-Way Language Bridge: Co-Constructing Bilingual Language Learning Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin-Beltran, Melinda

2010-01-01

Using a sociocultural theoretical lens, this study examines the nature of student interactions in a dual immersion school to analyze affordances for bilingual language learning, language exchange, and co-construction of language expertise. This article focuses on data from audio- and video-recorded interactions of fifth-grade students engaged in…

E-Books as a Support for Young Children's Language and Literacy: The Case of Hebrew-Speaking Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korat, Ofra; Shamir, Adina; Segal-Drori, Ora

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present a series of studies performed in the last decade that examined the contribution of e-books reading to the language and literacy of young Hebrew-speaking children. Children worked with two e-books designed by the researchers to achieve this aim. We present the effect of reading these e-books on the language and literacy of…

Young Spanish-English Speaking Children's Reading Attitudes in Relation to Language Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Carla L.; Gabas, Clariebelle M.

2017-01-01

Background: Reading attitudes are recognised as an influencing factor on the language and literacy achievement of school age monolingual English-speaking children. The relationship between reading attitudes and achievement in young Spanish-speaking English Learners (ELs) remains understudied. Purpose: The aim of the current study was to describe…

The Use of Authentic Assessment to Report Accountability Data on Young Children's Language, Literacy and Pre-Math Competency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gao, Xin; Grisham-Brown, Jennifer

2011-01-01

This validity study examined the validity of Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System, 2nd Edition (AEPS®), a curriculum-based, authentic assessment for infants and young children. The primary purposes were to: a) examine whether the AEPS® is a concurrently valid tool for measuring young children's language, literacy and pre-math skills for…

The Effects of Content-Enriched Shared Book Reading versus Vocabulary-Only Discussions on the Vocabulary Outcomes of Preschool Dual Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn D.; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Saenz, Laura; Resendez, Nora; Kwok, Oiman; Zhu, Leina; Davis, Heather

2018-01-01

Research Findings: This study compared the effects of content-based shared book-reading instruction versus an explicit vocabulary-only condition on the vocabulary development of preschool dual language learners (DLLs). Using shared book reading as the mode of instruction, we randomly assigned 48 bilingual preschool teachers and 281…

A Comparison of Difficulty Levels of Vocabulary in First Grade Basal Readers for Preschool Dual Language Learners and Monolingual English Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Cynthia B.; Silverman, Rebecca; Nandakumar, Ratna; Qian, Xiaoyu; Hines, Sara

2011-01-01

The present study investigated preschoolers' knowledge of vocabulary that appears in first grade basal readers by applying Rasch modeling to data from a researcher-developed receptive picture vocabulary assessment administered to 238 children. Levels of word difficulty for dual language learners (DLLs) and monolingual English learners (MELs) were…

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…

Impacts of an In-Service Education Program on Promoting Language Development in Young Children: A Pilot Study with Early Childhood Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scarinci, Nerina; Rose, Tanya; Pee, Jerrine; Webb, Kylie

2015-01-01

Early childhood educators (ECEs) play an important role in fostering language development in young children. In-service education, led by speech-language pathologists (SLPs), has a potential role in educating ECEs about language development. In this pilot study, 42 ECEs attended an in-service education program and completed pre- and…

Communication through Comedy: A Drama and Theatre Project with Young People for Whom English Is a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepherd, Lisa

2014-01-01

This article explores an eight-month community theatre project with young people for whom English is a second language. Working as a creative practitioner facilitating young people to explore their personal stories of transition to the UK, the drama therapist discovered comedy to be an important and poignant vehicle for expression of the emotional…

The development of a multimedia online language assessment tool for young children with autism.

PubMed

Lin, Chu-Sui; Chang, Shu-Hui; Liou, Wen-Ying; Tsai, Yu-Show

2013-10-01

This study aimed to provide early childhood special education professionals with a standardized and comprehensive language assessment tool for the early identification of language learning characteristics (e.g., hyperlexia) of young children with autism. In this study, we used computer technology to develop a multi-media online language assessment tool that presents auditory or visual stimuli. This online comprehensive language assessment consists of six subtests: decoding, homographs, auditory vocabulary comprehension, visual vocabulary comprehension, auditory sentence comprehension, and visual sentence comprehension. Three hundred typically developing children and 35 children with autism from Tao-Yuan County in Taiwan aged 4-6 participated in this study. The Cronbach α values of the six subtests ranged from .64 to .97. The variance explained by the six subtests ranged from 14% to 56%, the current validity of each subtest with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised ranged from .21 to .45, and the predictive validity of each subtest with WISC-III ranged from .47 to .75. This assessment tool was also found to be able to accurately differentiate children with autism up to 92%. These results indicate that this assessment tool has both adequate reliability and validity. Additionally, 35 children with autism have completed the entire assessment in this study without exhibiting any extremely troubling behaviors. However, future research is needed to increase the sample size of both typically developing children and young children with autism and to overcome the technical challenges associated with internet issues. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Home Literacy Environment and Word Knowledge Development: A Study of Young Learners of Chinese as a Heritage Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Dongbo; Koda, Keiko

2011-01-01

This study examined young Heritage Language (HL) learners' home literacy environment and its impact on HL word-knowledge development, focusing on a group of Chinese-English bilingual children learning to read in Chinese as a Heritage Language in the United States. A home literacy survey revealed that parents mostly used HL to talk to children,…

Dual-process models of associative recognition in young and older adults: evidence from receiver operating characteristics.

PubMed

Healy, Michael R; Light, Leah L; Chung, Christie

2005-07-01

In 3 experiments, young and older adults studied lists of unrelated word pairs and were given confidence-rated item and associative recognition tests. Several different models of recognition were fit to the confidence-rating data using techniques described by S. Macho (2002, 2004). Concordant with previous findings, item recognition data were best fit by an unequal-variance signal detection theory model for both young and older adults. For both age groups, associative recognition performance was best explained by models incorporating both recollection and familiarity components. Examination of parameter estimates supported the conclusion that recollection is reduced in old age, but inferences about age differences in familiarity were highly model dependent. Implications for dual-process models of memory in old age are discussed. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).

Should bilingual children learn reading in two languages at the same time or in sequence?

PubMed Central

Berens, Melody S.; Kovelman, Ioulia; Petitto, Laura-Ann

2013-01-01

Is it best to learn reading in two languages simultaneously or sequentially? We observed 2nd and 3rd grade children in two-way dual-language learning contexts: (i) 50:50 or Simultaneous dual-language (two languages within same developmental period) and (ii) 90:10 or Sequential dual-language (one language, followed gradually by the other). They were compared to matched monolingual English-only children in single-language English schools. Bilinguals (home language was Spanish only, English-only, or Spanish and English in dual-language schools), were tested in both languages, and monolingual children were tested in English using standardized reading and language tasks. Bilinguals in 50:50 programs performed better than bilinguals in 90:10 programs on English Irregular Words and Passage Comprehension tasks, suggesting language and reading facilitation for underlying grammatical class and linguistic structure analyses. By contrast, bilinguals in 90:10 programs performed better than bilinguals in the 50:50 programs on English Phonological Awareness and Reading Decoding tasks, suggesting language and reading facilitation for surface phonological regularity analysis. Notably, children from English-only homes in dual-language learning contexts performed equally well, or better than, children from monolingual English-only homes in single-language learning contexts. Overall, the findings provide tantalizing evidence that dual-language learning during the same developmental period may provide bilingual reading advantages. PMID:23794952

A Typology of Language-Brokering Events in Dual-Language Immersion Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coyoca, Anne Marie; Lee, Jin Sook

2009-01-01

This paper examines language-brokering events to better understand how children utilize their linguistic resources to create spaces where the coexistence of two languages can enable or restrict understanding and learning of academic content for themselves and others. An analysis of the structure of language-brokering events reveals that different…

"Alla en Guatemala": Transnationalism, Language, and Identity of a Pentecostal Guatemalan-American Young Woman

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ek, Lucila D.

2009-01-01

This article examines the transnationalism of a Pentecostal Guatemalan-American young woman who is a second-generation immigrant. Amalia traveled to Guatemala from when she was six months old until her sophomore year in college. These visits to Guatemala have helped her maintain her Guatemalan language, culture, and identity in the larger Southern…

Bilingual Dual Coding in Japanese Returnee Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taura, Hideyuki

1998-01-01

Investigates effects of second-language acquisition age, length of exposure to the second language, and Japanese language specificity on the bilingual dual coding hypothesis proposed by Paivio and Desrochers (1980). Balanced Japanese-English bilingual returnee (having resided in an English-speaking country) subjects were presented with pictures to…

The Combine Project: An Experience in a Dual-Language Classroom = El proyecto de la cosechadora: una experiencia en una clase bilingue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Rebecca

This article, also available in Spanish, describes what happened when a bilingual kindergarten class in West Liberty, Iowa, investigated a combine. The dual-language Kindergarten program supports content area instruction in both Spanish and English. The first part of the article tells the story of the Combine Project, this class's first project…

Better dual-task processing in simultaneous interpreters

PubMed Central

Strobach, Tilo; Becker, Maxi; Schubert, Torsten; Kühn, Simone

2015-01-01

Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is a highly complex activity and requires the performance and coordination of multiple, simultaneous tasks: analysis and understanding of the discourse in a first language, reformulating linguistic material, storing of intermediate processing steps, and language production in a second language among others. It is, however, an open issue whether persons with experience in SI possess superior skills in coordination of multiple tasks and whether they are able to transfer these skills to lab-based dual-task situations. Within the present study, we set out to explore whether interpreting experience is associated with related higher-order executive functioning in the context of dual-task situations of the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) type. In this PRP situation, we found faster reactions times in participants with experience in simultaneous interpretation in contrast to control participants without such experience. Thus, simultaneous interpreters possess superior skills in coordination of multiple tasks in lab-based dual-task situations. PMID:26528232

Meeting the Needs of Children and Young People with Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsay, Geoff; Dockrell, Julie; Desforges, Martin; Law, James; Peacey, Nick

2010-01-01

Background: The UK government set up a review of provision for children and young people with the full range of speech, language and communication needs led by a Member of Parliament, John Bercow. A research study was commissioned to provide empirical evidence to inform the Bercow Review. Aims: To examine the efficiency and effectiveness of…

Communication and Language Development of Young Children with Autism: A Review of Research in Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaiouli, Potheini; Andreou, Georgia

2018-01-01

Research demonstrates connections among children's music actions, their engagement abilities, and their language development. Although the link between music and the engagement abilities of young children with autism is well established, there is not enough evidence on the effectiveness of music strategies and music therapy interventions to…

Transactional Associations between Supportive Family Climate and Young Children's Heritage Language Proficiency in Immigrant Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Heejung; Tsai, Kim M.; Liu, Lisa L.; Lau, Anna S.

2012-01-01

Heritage language (HL) proficiency confers developmental benefits; however, the onset of HL loss is observed among many young children from immigrant families. In this longitudinal study, transactional associations between children's HL proficiency and supportive family climate were examined in Chinese immigrant families with pre-school-aged…

The Effects of Storytelling and Story Reading on the Oral Language Complexity and Story Comprehension of Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isbell, Rebecca; Sobol, Joseph; Lindauer, Liane; Lowrance, April

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine how storytelling and story reading influence the language development and story comprehension of young children from 3 to 5 years of age. During the study, two groups of children heard the same 24 stories. Group A heard the stories told and Group B heard the stories read from a book. The language pre- and…

Neural Language Processing in Adolescent First-Language Learners

PubMed Central

Ferjan Ramirez, Naja; Leonard, Matthew K.; Torres, Christina; Hatrak, Marla; Halgren, Eric; Mayberry, Rachel I.

2014-01-01

The relation between the timing of language input and development of neural organization for language processing in adulthood has been difficult to tease apart because language is ubiquitous in the environment of nearly all infants. However, within the congenitally deaf population are individuals who do not experience language until after early childhood. Here, we investigated the neural underpinnings of American Sign Language (ASL) in 2 adolescents who had no sustained language input until they were approximately 14 years old. Using anatomically constrained magnetoencephalography, we found that recently learned signed words mainly activated right superior parietal, anterior occipital, and dorsolateral prefrontal areas in these 2 individuals. This spatiotemporal activity pattern was significantly different from the left fronto-temporal pattern observed in young deaf adults who acquired ASL from birth, and from that of hearing young adults learning ASL as a second language for a similar length of time as the cases. These results provide direct evidence that the timing of language experience over human development affects the organization of neural language processing. PMID:23696277

Dual use of alcohol and marijuana and condomless sex in young adult men and women: A within-subject day-level analysis.

PubMed

Hayaki, Jumi; Anderson, Bradley J; Stein, Michael D

2018-06-20

Unprotected sex has been linked independently to alcohol and marijuana use, but few studies have examined associations with dual use or gender differences in these associations. This study examined day-level associations between unprotected sex, defined as condomless vaginal sex with an opposite-sex partner, and use of alcohol, marijuana, neither, or both substances among 290 young adults (18-25 years, 52.3% female) who reported either alcohol or marijuana use. Participants reported demographics, alcohol use, marijuana use, and at least one episode of condomless sex as defined above in the past 90 days (Timeline Follow-Back). The likelihood of condomless sex was examined for days when alcohol, marijuana, neither, or both were used. Gender differences were also explored. For females, compared to days with no substance use, the estimated risk of condomless sex increased by a factor of 2.12 on alcohol use days, 1.89 on marijuana use days, and 3.39 on dual use days. Among males, the odds of condomless sex increased only slightly on alcohol use (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03) or marijuana use (OR = 1.08) days, but increased by a factor of 1.71 on dual use days. Young persons who use alcohol and/or marijuana experience heightened likelihood of condomless sex. This increased likelihood is greater for women than for men on days with alcohol or marijuana use, each alone but especially when combined. Young women may be especially susceptible to the influence of alcohol and/or marijuana use on sexual behavior. (Am J Addict 2018;XX:1-6). © 2018 American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.

Parental Support for Language Development during Joint Book Reading for Young Children with Hearing Loss

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DesJardin, Jean L.; Doll, Emily R.; Stika, Carren J.; Eisenberg, Laurie S.; Johnson, Karen J.; Ganguly, Dianne Hammes; Colson, Bethany G.; Henning, Shirley C.

2014-01-01

Parent and child joint book reading (JBR) characteristics and parent facilitative language techniques (FLTs) were investigated in two groups of parents and their young children; children with normal hearing (NH; "n" = 60) and children with hearing loss (HL; "n" = 45). Parent-child dyads were videotaped during JBR interactions,…

Bridging the language gap: Exploring science teachers' dual role as teachers of content and English literacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, Suzanne C.

Responsibility for educating English language learners is increasingly falling on the shoulders of content specialists at the secondary level, as students are mainstreamed into classes. Therefore, providing these students an opportunity to achieve academic success depends largely on the quality of mainstream instruction (Cornell, 1995). Most teachers receive little or no preparation in how to work with English language learners. In my study, I address the instructional issues confronting three white, monolingual English-speaking middle school science teachers who must meet the demands of an increasing English language learner population. Specifically, this study explores teacher beliefs and enactment of reform-oriented science and sheltered instructional approaches to develop English language learners scientific and English literacy skills. I also explore the relationships that exist between these two dynamics in an effort to determine the extent to which teachers take on a dual role as teachers promoting English language and science proficiency. Using a participant observation case study method and my adaptation of Schwab's commonplaces heuristic, I analyzed the relationship between teacher beliefs, milieu, subject matter, and enactment in bridging the language gap in the science classroom for English language learners. The most noteworthy finding of this study was the significant role of milieu in enacting lessons that bridge the language gap and foster the development of English language learners science and English literacy skills. The findings suggest that greater attention be given to helping teachers establish a relationship-driven classroom milieu. You can provide all kinds of courses or professional learning experiences to improve teachers' instructional practices, but they must also recognize the importance of establishing relationships with their students; the coursework they take will not supplant the need to foster a warm and safe environment for all

Language Magazine: The Journal of Communication & Education, 2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Daniel, Ed.

2003-01-01

Articles are included on such issues as the following: heritage languages; the psychology of language; the Voice of America broadcasts; dual language programs; linguistic autobiography in the language classroom; pronunciation; electronic education; dialects; world languages; bilingual education; language travel; language structure; conceptual…

Relationships between Reading Comprehension and Its Components in Young Chinese-as-a-Second-Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Yu Ka

2017-01-01

Based on the Simple View of Reading model, this study examines the relationships among Chinese reading comprehension and its two componential processes, Chinese character reading and listening comprehension, in young learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL) using a longitudinal design. Using relevant measures, a sample of 142 senior primary…

Understanding Counterfactuality: A Review of Experimental Evidence for the Dual Meaning of Counterfactuals

PubMed Central

Nieuwland, Mante S.

2016-01-01

Abstract Cognitive and linguistic theories of counterfactual language comprehension assume that counterfactuals convey a dual meaning. Subjunctive‐counterfactual conditionals (e.g., ‘If Tom had studied hard, he would have passed the test’) express a supposition while implying the factual state of affairs (Tom has not studied hard and failed). The question of how counterfactual dual meaning plays out during language processing is currently gaining interest in psycholinguistics. Whereas numerous studies using offline measures of language processing consistently support counterfactual dual meaning, evidence coming from online studies is less conclusive. Here, we review the available studies that examine online counterfactual language comprehension through behavioural measurement (self‐paced reading times, eye‐tracking) and neuroimaging (electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging). While we argue that these studies do not offer direct evidence for the online computation of counterfactual dual meaning, they provide valuable information about the way counterfactual meaning unfolds in time and influences successive information processing. Further advances in research on counterfactual comprehension require more specific predictions about how counterfactual dual meaning impacts incremental sentence processing. PMID:27512408

Cross-Language Transfer of Syntactic Skills and Reading Comprehension among Young Cantonese-English Bilingual Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siu, Carrey Tik-Sze; Ho, Connie Suk-Han

2015-01-01

The present study examined the roles of different dimensions of syntactic skills in predicting reading comprehension within and across two languages with contrasting structural properties: Chinese and English. A total of 413 young Cantonese-English bilingual students in Hong Kong (202 first graders and 211 third graders) were tested on word order…

Sign language ability in young deaf signers predicts comprehension of written sentences in English.

PubMed

Andrew, Kathy N; Hoshooley, Jennifer; Joanisse, Marc F

2014-01-01

We investigated the robust correlation between American Sign Language (ASL) and English reading ability in 51 young deaf signers ages 7;3 to 19;0. Signers were divided into 'skilled' and 'less-skilled' signer groups based on their performance on three measures of ASL. We next assessed reading comprehension of four English sentence structures (actives, passives, pronouns, reflexive pronouns) using a sentence-to-picture-matching task. Of interest was the extent to which ASL proficiency provided a foundation for lexical and syntactic processes of English. Skilled signers outperformed less-skilled signers overall. Error analyses further indicated greater single-word recognition difficulties in less-skilled signers marked by a higher rate of errors reflecting an inability to identify the actors and actions described in the sentence. Our findings provide evidence that increased ASL ability supports English sentence comprehension both at the levels of individual words and syntax. This is consistent with the theory that first language learning promotes second language through transference of linguistic elements irrespective of the transparency of mapping of grammatical structures between the two languages.

Sign Language Ability in Young Deaf Signers Predicts Comprehension of Written Sentences in English

PubMed Central

Andrew, Kathy N.; Hoshooley, Jennifer; Joanisse, Marc F.

2014-01-01

We investigated the robust correlation between American Sign Language (ASL) and English reading ability in 51 young deaf signers ages 7;3 to 19;0. Signers were divided into ‘skilled’ and ‘less-skilled’ signer groups based on their performance on three measures of ASL. We next assessed reading comprehension of four English sentence structures (actives, passives, pronouns, reflexive pronouns) using a sentence-to-picture-matching task. Of interest was the extent to which ASL proficiency provided a foundation for lexical and syntactic processes of English. Skilled signers outperformed less-skilled signers overall. Error analyses further indicated greater single-word recognition difficulties in less-skilled signers marked by a higher rate of errors reflecting an inability to identify the actors and actions described in the sentence. Our findings provide evidence that increased ASL ability supports English sentence comprehension both at the levels of individual words and syntax. This is consistent with the theory that first language learning promotes second language through transference of linguistic elements irrespective of the transparency of mapping of grammatical structures between the two languages. PMID:24587174

Parent Perceptions of Audiology and Speech-Language Services and Support for Young Children with Cochlear Implants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Patrick Michael

2013-01-01

Parents of children diagnosed with severe-profound sensorineural hearing loss are selecting cochlear implants at an increasing rate and when their children are very young. Audiologists and speech-language pathologists are typically involved in habilitation activities following implantation in an effort to increase children's access to listening…

Fathers' and Mothers' Verbal Responsiveness and the Language Skills of Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Flippin, Michelle; Watson, Linda R

2015-08-01

In this observational study, we examined the interactions of 16 young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents to investigate (a) differences in verbal responsiveness used by fathers and mothers in interactions with their children with ASD and (b) concurrent associations between the language skills of children with ASD and the verbal responsiveness of both fathers and mothers. Parent verbal responsiveness was coded from video recordings of naturalistic parent-child play sessions using interval-based coding. Child language skills were measured by the Preschool Language Scale-Fourth Edition (Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002). For both fathers and mothers, parent verbal responsiveness was positively associated with child language skills. Mothers' responsiveness was also significantly associated with child cognition. After controlling for child cognition, fathers' verbal responsiveness continued to be significantly related to child language skills. Although other studies have documented associations between mothers' responsiveness and child language, this is the 1st study to document a significant concurrent association between child language skills of children with ASD and the verbal responsiveness of fathers. Findings of this study warrant the inclusion of fathers in future research on language development and intervention to better understand the potential contributions fathers may make to language growth for children with ASD over time as well as to determine whether coaching fathers to use responsive verbal strategies can improve language outcomes for children with ASD.

Voices of Young People with a History of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in the First Year of Post-16 Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palikara, Olympia; Lindsay, Geoff; Dockrell, Julie E.

2009-01-01

Background: Giving young people more and better opportunities to have their voices heard is a key feature of current educational policy and research internationally and in the UK. Aims: To examine the views of young people with a history of specific language impairment (SLI) as they entered post-16 education. Methods & Procedures: A total of…

Pragmatic Language Features of Mothers With the FMR1 Premutation Are Associated With the Language Outcomes of Adolescents and Young Adults With Fragile X Syndrome

PubMed Central

McGrath, Sara E.; Abbeduto, Leonard; Roberts, Jane E.

2016-01-01

Purpose Pragmatic language difficulties have been documented as part of the FMR1 premutation phenotype, yet the interplay between these features in mothers and the language outcomes of their children with fragile X syndrome is unknown. This study aimed to determine whether pragmatic language difficulties in mothers with the FMR1 premutation are related to the language development of their children. Method Twenty-seven mothers with the FMR1 premutation and their adolescent/young adult sons with fragile X syndrome participated. Maternal pragmatic language violations were rated from conversational samples using the Pragmatic Rating Scale (Landa et al., 1992). Children completed standardized assessments of vocabulary, syntax, and reading. Results Maternal pragmatic language difficulties were significantly associated with poorer child receptive vocabulary and expressive syntax skills, with medium effect sizes. Conclusions This work contributes to knowledge of the FMR1 premutation phenotype and its consequences at the family level, with the goal of identifying modifiable aspects of the child's language-learning environment that may promote the selection of treatments targeting the specific needs of families affected by fragile X. Findings contribute to our understanding of the multifaceted environment in which children with fragile X syndrome learn language and highlight the importance of family-centered intervention practices for this group. PMID:26895548

Pragmatic Language Features of Mothers With the FMR1 Premutation Are Associated With the Language Outcomes of Adolescents and Young Adults With Fragile X Syndrome.

PubMed

Klusek, Jessica; McGrath, Sara E; Abbeduto, Leonard; Roberts, Jane E

2016-02-01

Pragmatic language difficulties have been documented as part of the FMR1 premutation phenotype, yet the interplay between these features in mothers and the language outcomes of their children with fragile X syndrome is unknown. This study aimed to determine whether pragmatic language difficulties in mothers with the FMR1 premutation are related to the language development of their children. Twenty-seven mothers with the FMR1 premutation and their adolescent/young adult sons with fragile X syndrome participated. Maternal pragmatic language violations were rated from conversational samples using the Pragmatic Rating Scale (Landa et al., 1992). Children completed standardized assessments of vocabulary, syntax, and reading. Maternal pragmatic language difficulties were significantly associated with poorer child receptive vocabulary and expressive syntax skills, with medium effect sizes. This work contributes to knowledge of the FMR1 premutation phenotype and its consequences at the family level, with the goal of identifying modifiable aspects of the child's language-learning environment that may promote the selection of treatments targeting the specific needs of families affected by fragile X. Findings contribute to our understanding of the multifaceted environment in which children with fragile X syndrome learn language and highlight the importance of family-centered intervention practices for this group.

Can Non-Interactive Language Input Benefit Young Second-Language Learners?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Au, Terry Kit-fong; Chan, Winnie Wailan; Cheng, Liao; Siegel, Linda S.; Tso, Ricky Van Yip

2015-01-01

To fully acquire a language, especially its phonology, children need linguistic input from native speakers early on. When interaction with native speakers is not always possible--e.g. for children learning a second language that is not the societal language--audios are commonly used as an affordable substitute. But does such non-interactive input…

Why We Need To Watch, Look, and Listen When Young Children Write: What We Can Learn from Them about Their Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McIntosh, Margaret

The intricate quilt pattern of child language development can be pieced together from the numerous swatches of each child's language fabric which have been gathered by watching, looking, and listening when young children write. The necessity of watching, looking, and listening is demonstrated by the example of a preschooler's verbal protocol which…

Promoting Expressive Language in Young Children with or At-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Preschool Classroom.

PubMed

Lane, Justin D; Shepley, Collin; Lieberman-Betz, Rebecca

2016-10-01

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often demonstrate delays in expressive communication, impacting their ability to independently function in typical environments. Individuals with ASD who develop expressive language during early childhood experience better outcomes later in life; therefore, examination of naturalistic language interventions (NLIs) remain an important area of investigation. The current study used a multiple probe design across participants to examine the effects of a classroom-based NLI on various expressive language targets in three preschool-aged children demonstrating characteristics of ASD. Findings suggest the intervention had positive and maintained effects on trial-based use of language targets, as well as concomitant changes in commenting, requesting, and phrase complexity. Implications regarding implementation of NLIs within typical classroom play activities are discussed.

The Local Control Funding Formula: An Opportunity for Early Childhood & Dual Language Learners. Increasing Resources for Early Childhood through the Local Control Funding Formula: A Guide for Early Childhood Advocates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Children Now, 2016

2016-01-01

According to the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) law, most school districts in the state are responsible for using LCFF funds to improve outcomes for English language learners, also known as dual language learners. Each district has created a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), the funding plan for LCFF. The LCAP is reviewed and…

Dual Contraceptive Method Use Among Youth in Alternative Schools.

PubMed

Coyle, Karin K; Peterson, Amy J; Franks, Heather M; Anderson, Pamela M; Glassman, Jill R

2016-12-01

Dual contraceptive method use, or using a highly effective contraceptive method plus a barrier method like condoms, is gaining attention as a strategy for preventing unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. We investigated rates of dual method use among a sample of youth in urban alternative schools, and explored the relationship between dual method use and sexual partner type. The study analyzed data from 765 students enrolled in 11 district-run continuation high schools in northern California. We explored the association between dual method use and sexual partner type (steady only, a mix of steady and non-steady, and non-steady only) using logistic regression. Differences in dual rates by partner type were statistically significant, with higher rates of dual methods use reported among young people reporting non-steady sexual partners only, as compared to those with steady partners only. The data illustrate that young people in alternative school settings could gain from further intervention on the benefits, skills, and challenges of using two methods of contraception as opposed to one with both steady and non-steady sexual partners.

Fathers' and Mothers' Verbal Responsiveness and the Language Skills of Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Watson, Linda R.

2015-01-01

Purpose In this observational study, we examined the interactions of 16 young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents to investigate (a) differences in verbal responsiveness used by fathers and mothers in interactions with their children with ASD and (b) concurrent associations between the language skills of children with ASD and the verbal responsiveness of both fathers and mothers. Method Parent verbal responsiveness was coded from video recordings of naturalistic parent–child play sessions using interval-based coding. Child language skills were measured by the Preschool Language Scale–Fourth Edition (Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002). Results For both fathers and mothers, parent verbal responsiveness was positively associated with child language skills. Mothers' responsiveness was also significantly associated with child cognition. After controlling for child cognition, fathers' verbal responsiveness continued to be significantly related to child language skills. Conclusions Although other studies have documented associations between mothers' responsiveness and child language, this is the 1st study to document a significant concurrent association between child language skills of children with ASD and the verbal responsiveness of fathers. Findings of this study warrant the inclusion of fathers in future research on language development and intervention to better understand the potential contributions fathers may make to language growth for children with ASD over time as well as to determine whether coaching fathers to use responsive verbal strategies can improve language outcomes for children with ASD. PMID:25836377

Carcass traits of young bulls in dual-purpose cattle: genetic parameters and genetic correlations with veal calf, type and production traits.

PubMed

Croué, I; Fouilloux, M N; Saintilan, R; Ducrocq, V

2017-06-01

The profitability of dual-purpose breeding farms can be increased through genetic improvement of carcass traits. To develop a genetic evaluation of carcass traits of young bulls, breed-specific genetic parameters were estimated in three French dual-purpose breeds. Genetic correlations between these traits and veal calf, type and milk production traits were also estimated. Slaughter performances of 156 226 Montbeliarde, 160 361 Normande and 8691 Simmental young bulls were analyzed with a multitrait animal model. In the three breeds, heritabilities were moderate for carcass weight (0.12 to 0.19±0.01 to 0.04) and carcass conformation (0.21 to 0.26±0.01 to 0.04) and slightly lower for age at slaughter (0.08 to 0.17±0.01 to 0.03). For all three breeds, genetic correlations between carcass weight and carcass conformation were moderate and favorable (0.30 to 0.52±0.03 to 0.13). They were strong and favorable (-0.49 to -0.71±0.05 to 0.15) between carcass weight and age at slaughter. Between age at slaughter and carcass conformation, they were low and unfavorable to moderate and favorable (-0.25 to 0.10±0.06 to 0.18). Heavier young bulls tend to be better conformed and slaughtered earlier. Genetic correlations between corresponding young bulls and veal production traits were moderate and favorable (0.32 to 0.70±0.03 to 0.09), implying that selecting sires for veal calf production leads to select sires producing better young bulls. Genetic correlations between young bull carcass weight and cow size were moderately favorable (0.22 to 0.45±0.04 to 0.10). Young bull carcass conformation had moderate and favorable genetic correlations (0.11 to 0.24±0.04 to 0.10) with cow width but moderate and unfavorable genetic correlations (-0.21 to -0.36±0.03 to 0.08) with cow height. Taller cows tended to produce heavier young bulls and thinner cows to produce less conformed ones. Genetic correlations between carcass traits of young bulls and cow muscularity traits were low to

Bilinguals’ Existing Languages Benefit Vocabulary Learning in a Third Language

PubMed Central

Bartolotti, James; Marian, Viorica

2017-01-01

Learning a new language involves substantial vocabulary acquisition. Learners can accelerate this process by relying on words with native-language overlap, such as cognates. For bilingual third language learners, it is necessary to determine how their two existing languages interact during novel language learning. A scaffolding account predicts transfer from either language for individual words, whereas an accumulation account predicts cumulative transfer from both languages. To compare these accounts, twenty English-German bilingual adults were taught an artificial language containing 48 novel written words that varied orthogonally in English and German wordlikeness (neighborhood size and orthotactic probability). Wordlikeness in each language improved word production accuracy, and similarity to one language provided the same benefit as dual-language overlap. In addition, participants’ memory for novel words was affected by the statistical distributions of letters in the novel language. Results indicate that bilinguals utilize both languages during third language acquisition, supporting a scaffolding learning model. PMID:28781384

Bilinguals' Existing Languages Benefit Vocabulary Learning in a Third Language.

PubMed

Bartolotti, James; Marian, Viorica

2017-03-01

Learning a new language involves substantial vocabulary acquisition. Learners can accelerate this process by relying on words with native-language overlap, such as cognates. For bilingual third language learners, it is necessary to determine how their two existing languages interact during novel language learning. A scaffolding account predicts transfer from either language for individual words, whereas an accumulation account predicts cumulative transfer from both languages. To compare these accounts, twenty English-German bilingual adults were taught an artificial language containing 48 novel written words that varied orthogonally in English and German wordlikeness (neighborhood size and orthotactic probability). Wordlikeness in each language improved word production accuracy, and similarity to one language provided the same benefit as dual-language overlap. In addition, participants' memory for novel words was affected by the statistical distributions of letters in the novel language. Results indicate that bilinguals utilize both languages during third language acquisition, supporting a scaffolding learning model.

Leadership and Languages: Inspiring Young Linguists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawkes, Rachel; Schechter, Sarah

2016-01-01

The Language Leader Award, created by Rachel Hawkes and run by Routes into Languages East "helps pupils learn to lead, using language teaching as the medium. Throughout the year-long programme they develop their leadership and [linguistic] skills, growing in confidence and enhancing their future careers" (Hawkes, n.d. c, p. 1). Some…

Dual Language Learners: Effective Instruction in Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldenberg, Claude; Hicks, Judy; Lit, Ira

2013-01-01

Preschool teachers can best educate youngsters learning their home language and English by using children's primary language where possible, adopting effective practices for building English language skills, and involving families in supporting children's learning. This article surveys the growing body of research on improving preschool…

Does Grammatical Structure Accelerate Number Word Learning? Evidence from Learners of Dual and Non-Dual Dialects of Slovenian.

PubMed

Marušič, Franc; Žaucer, Rok; Plesničar, Vesna; Razboršek, Tina; Sullivan, Jessica; Barner, David

2016-01-01

How does linguistic structure affect children's acquisition of early number word meanings? Previous studies have tested this question by comparing how children learning languages with different grammatical representations of number learn the meanings of labels for small numbers, like 1, 2, and 3. For example, children who acquire a language with singular-plural marking, like English, are faster to learn the word for 1 than children learning a language that lacks the singular-plural distinction, perhaps because the word for 1 is always used in singular contexts, highlighting its meaning. These studies are problematic, however, because reported differences in number word learning may be due to unmeasured cross-cultural differences rather than specific linguistic differences. To address this problem, we investigated number word learning in four groups of children from a single culture who spoke different dialects of the same language that differed chiefly with respect to how they grammatically mark number. We found that learning a dialect which features "dual" morphology (marking of pairs) accelerated children's acquisition of the number word two relative to learning a "non-dual" dialect of the same language.

Young children make their gestural communication systems more language-like: segmentation and linearization of semantic elements in motion events.

PubMed

Clay, Zanna; Pople, Sally; Hood, Bruce; Kita, Sotaro

2014-08-01

Research on Nicaraguan Sign Language, created by deaf children, has suggested that young children use gestures to segment the semantic elements of events and linearize them in ways similar to those used in signed and spoken languages. However, it is unclear whether this is due to children's learning processes or to a more general effect of iterative learning. We investigated whether typically developing children, without iterative learning, segment and linearize information. Gestures produced in the absence of speech to express a motion event were examined in 4-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults (all native English speakers). We compared the proportions of gestural expressions that segmented semantic elements into linear sequences and that encoded them simultaneously. Compared with adolescents and adults, children reshaped the holistic stimuli by segmenting and recombining their semantic features into linearized sequences. A control task on recognition memory ruled out the possibility that this was due to different event perception or memory. Young children spontaneously bring fundamental properties of language into their communication system. © The Author(s) 2014.

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…

Early Social, Imitation, Play, and Language Abilities of Young Non-Autistic Siblings of Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toth, Karen; Dawson, Geraldine; Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Greenson, Jessica; Fein, Deborah

2007-01-01

Studies are needed to better understand the broad autism phenotype in young siblings of children with autism. Cognitive, adaptive, social, imitation, play, and language abilities were examined in 42 non-autistic siblings and 20 toddlers with no family history of autism, ages 18-27 months. Siblings, as a group, were below average in expressive…

The Effects of Presenting Different Types of Vocabulary Clusters on Very Young Learners' Foreign Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karabulut, Aslihan; Kesli Dollar, Yesim

2016-01-01

The main aim of this study was to find out which type of vocabulary cluster--semantic, thematic and unrelated--very young learners benefit from the most while learning foreign language vocabulary. The study also aimed at shedding light on the effects of these three vocabulary clusters on the immediate and delayed recall of foreign language…

Social Confidence in Early Adulthood among Young People with and without a History of Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durkin, Kevin; Toseeb, Umar; Botting, Nicola; Pickles, Andrew; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to test the predictions that lower self-esteem and higher shyness in individuals with a history of language impairment (LI) would continue from adolescence into early adulthood and that those with LI would have lower social self-efficacy in early adulthood. Method: Participants were young people with a…

Language and Recursion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lowenthal, Francis

2010-11-01

This paper examines whether the recursive structure imbedded in some exercises used in the Non Verbal Communication Device (NVCD) approach is actually the factor that enables this approach to favor language acquisition and reacquisition in the case of children with cerebral lesions. For that a definition of the principle of recursion as it is used by logicians is presented. The two opposing approaches to the problem of language development are explained. For many authors such as Chomsky [1] the faculty of language is innate. This is known as the Standard Theory; the other researchers in this field, e.g. Bates and Elman [2], claim that language is entirely constructed by the young child: they thus speak of Language Acquisition. It is also shown that in both cases, a version of the principle of recursion is relevant for human language. The NVCD approach is defined and the results obtained in the domain of language while using this approach are presented: young subjects using this approach acquire a richer language structure or re-acquire such a structure in the case of cerebral lesions. Finally it is shown that exercises used in this framework imply the manipulation of recursive structures leading to regular grammars. It is thus hypothesized that language development could be favored using recursive structures with the young child. It could also be the case that the NVCD like exercises used with children lead to the elaboration of a regular language, as defined by Chomsky [3], which could be sufficient for language development but would not require full recursion. This double claim could reconcile Chomsky's approach with psychological observations made by adherents of the Language Acquisition approach, if it is confirmed by researches combining the use of NVCDs, psychometric methods and the use of Neural Networks. This paper thus suggests that a research group oriented towards this problematic should be organized.

Cognitive and language performance in children is associated with maternal social anxiety disorder: A study of young mothers in southern Brazil.

PubMed

Castelli, Rochele Dias; Quevedo, Luciana de Ávila; Coelho, Fábio Monteiro da Cunha; Lopez, Mariane Acosta; da Silva, Ricardo Azevedo; Böhm, Denise Müller; Souza, Luciano Dias de Mattos; de Matos, Mariana Bonati; Pinheiro, Karen Amaral Tavares; Pinheiro, Ricardo Tavares

2015-12-01

It has been shown that maternal mental health is associated with poorer skills development in the offspring. However, the evidence evaluating the association between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and cognitive or language development, is scarce. To evaluate the association between maternal SAD and performance in cognitive and language tests in 30-month old children. This was a cohort study involving young women evaluated since pregnancy. We evaluated 520 mother-child dyads who received prenatal medical assistance through the National Public Health System in a southern Brazilian city, from October 2009 to March 2011. We used the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus (MINI Plus) to assess SAD among young mothers. Cognitive and language performance in their offspring was analyzed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - 3rd Edition. We found an association between maternal SAD and performance in cognitive and language tests. Children of mothers with SAD had in average 4.5 less points in the Bayley scale, when compared to those with mothers without SAD: in the cognitive (β=-4.53 [95% CI -7.8; -1.1] p=0.008) and language subscales (β=-4.54 [95% CI -9.0; -0.5] p=0.047). Our findings suggest that children with mothers suffering from SAD have poorer cognitive abilities and language skills. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language Underperformance in Young Children Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing: Are the Expectations Too Low?

PubMed

Meinzen-Derr, Jareen; Sheldon, Rose; Grether, Sandra; Altaye, Mekibib; Smith, Laura; Choo, Daniel I; Wiley, Susan

(1) To examine language performance in the context of cognitive abilities in young children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and (2) to identify factors associated with having a language underperformance, defined as a gap between the language standard score and the nonverbal IQ (NVIQ) standard score. Children 6 to 82 months of age with bilateral hearing loss were enrolled. Language performance was defined as a ratio of language skills relative to cognitive abilities with language underperformance defined as a ratio of language scores to NVIQ <0.85. Among 149 children, approximately half had hearing loss that was clinically classified as mild or moderate, and over one-third received a cochlear implant. Participants had a mean NVIQ in the average range (95.4 [20.3]). Receptive language scores were significantly lower than their NVIQ by 10.6 points (p < .0001). Among children with NVIQs 80 to 100, 62.5% had receptive scores <85 and 50% had a language underperformance (ratio <0.85). Among children with NIVQs >100, 21.1% had receptive scores <85 with 42% having a language underperformance. Children with language underperformance (n = 61, 41.5%) were more likely to have more severe levels of hearing loss, lower socioeconomic status, and be nonwhite. Many children early identified with hearing loss continue to demonstrate language underperformance, defined using their cognitive potential. Language deficits have a cascading effect on social functioning in children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. This study highlights the need to understand a child's cognitive potential to adequately address language needs in existing intervention models.

Improving Young English Learners' Language and Literacy Skills through Teacher Professional Development: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babinski, Leslie M.; Amendum, Steven J.; Knotek, Steven E.; Sánchez, Marta; Malone, Patrick

2018-01-01

Using a randomized controlled trial, we tested a new teacher professional development program for increasing the language and literacy skills of young Latino English learners with 45 teachers and 105 students in 12 elementary schools. School-based teams randomly assigned to the intervention received professional development focused on cultural…

Promoting Expressive Language in Young Children with or At-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Preschool Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Justin D.; Shepley, Collin; Lieberman-Betz, Rebecca

2016-01-01

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often demonstrate delays in expressive communication, impacting their ability to independently function in typical environments. Individuals with ASD who develop expressive language during early childhood experience better outcomes later in life; therefore, examination of naturalistic language…

Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Micheli Functional Scale to Persian Language for Evaluation of Low Back Pain in the Young Athletes.

PubMed

Naghdi, Soofia; Nakhostin Ansari, Noureddin; Ashrafi, Hanieh; Entezary, Ebrahim; Nakhostin Ansari, Amin; Olyaei, Gholamreza

2015-12-01

A clinical outcome tool is needed for the assessment of young athletes with low back pain. To translate and culturally adapt the Micheli functional scale (MFS), a self-report questionnaire developed to evaluate young athletes with low back pain (LBP) into Persian language and examine the reliability and validity of the Persian MFS (PMFS). A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the PMFS. The PMFS was cross-culturally adapted into Persian language adopting forward/backward translation, expert panel review, and pre-testing. The PMFS was administered to young athletes with and without LBP. Main outcome measures were Persian MFS, Persian functional rating Index (PFRI), and visual analogue scale (VAS). A sample of 100 young athletes with LBP with a mean age of 16.5 ± 2.5 years participated. Fifty young athletes without LBP completed the PMFS. There was no missing responses and floor or ceiling effects. There was a significant difference for the total PMFS scores between young athletes with and without LBP. A significant correlation was found between the total PMFS score and the VAS (r = 0.92) or the PFRI (r = 0.82; P < 0.001). A high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach α = 0.73), and excellent test-retest reliability (ICCagreement = 0.99, P < 0.001) were demonstrated for the PMFS. Factor analysis indicated a single-factor model for PMFS scores. The Persian MFS is valid and reliable for use in Persian-speaking young athletes with LBP.

Effectiveness of a Parent-Implemented Language and Literacy Intervention in the Home Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ijalba, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Few studies explore parent-implemented literacy interventions in the home language for young children with problems in language acquisition. A shift in children's use of the home language to English has been documented when English is the only language of instruction. When parents are not proficient in English, such language shift can limit…

Improving Your Child's Listening and Language Skills: A Parent's Guide to Language Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Ruth; And Others

The parent's guide reviews normal speech and language development and discusses ways in which parents of young children with language problems facilitate that development. Terms such as speech, communication, and receptive and expressive language are defined, and stages in receptive/expressive language development are charted. Implications for…

Expressive Language Profiles of Verbally Expressive Adolescents and Young Adults with Down Syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finestack, Lizbeth H.; Abbeduto, Leonard

2010-01-01

Purpose: In this study, the authors examined the expressive language abilities of a subset of highly verbally expressive adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) and those with fragile X syndrome (FXS) for evidence of syndrome-related differences. FXS gender differences were also examined in an exploratory fashion. Method: The authors…

Dueling Complexities: Experiences of Dual-Lang Immersion Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Valerie

2017-01-01

Dual-language immersion is an educational practice in which "literacy and content instruction" is provided in two languages at school (Howard et al., 2007, p.1). The students in these programs have been the center of many studies including student literacy development (Genesee & Jared, 2008), academic achievement (Lindholm-Leary,…

Relating Language and Music Skills in Young Children: A First Approach to Systemize and Compare Distinct Competencies on Different Levels

PubMed Central

Cohrdes, Caroline; Grolig, Lorenz; Schroeder, Sascha

2016-01-01

Children in transition from kindergarten to school develop fundamental skills important for the acquisition of reading and writing. Previous research pointed toward substantial correlations between specific language- and music-related competencies as well as positive transfer effects from music on pre-literacy skills. However, until now the relationship between diverse music and language competencies remains unclear. In the present study, we used a comprehensive approach to clarify the relationships between a broad variety of language and music skills on different levels, not only between but also within domains. In order to do so, we selected representative language- and music-related competencies and systematically compared the performance of N = 44 5- to 7-year-old children with a control group of N = 20 young adults aged from 20 to 30. Competencies were organized in distinct levels according to varying units of vowels/sounds, words or syllables/short melodic or rhythmic phrases, syntax/harmony and context of a whole story/song to test for their interrelatedness within each domain. Following this, we conducted systematic correlation analyses between the competencies of both domains. Overall, selected competencies appeared to be appropriate for the measurement of language and music skills in young children with reference to comprehension, difficulty and a developmental perspective. In line with a hierarchical model of skill acquisition, performance on lower levels was predictive for the performance on higher levels within domains. Moreover, correlations between domains were stronger for competencies reflecting a similar level of cognitive processing, as expected. In conclusion, a systematic comparison of various competencies on distinct levels according to varying units turned out to be appropriate regarding comparability and interrelatedness. Results are discussed with regard to similarities and differences in the development of language and music skills as well

Relating Language and Music Skills in Young Children: A First Approach to Systemize and Compare Distinct Competencies on Different Levels.

PubMed

Cohrdes, Caroline; Grolig, Lorenz; Schroeder, Sascha

2016-01-01

Children in transition from kindergarten to school develop fundamental skills important for the acquisition of reading and writing. Previous research pointed toward substantial correlations between specific language- and music-related competencies as well as positive transfer effects from music on pre-literacy skills. However, until now the relationship between diverse music and language competencies remains unclear. In the present study, we used a comprehensive approach to clarify the relationships between a broad variety of language and music skills on different levels, not only between but also within domains. In order to do so, we selected representative language- and music-related competencies and systematically compared the performance of N = 44 5- to 7-year-old children with a control group of N = 20 young adults aged from 20 to 30. Competencies were organized in distinct levels according to varying units of vowels/sounds, words or syllables/short melodic or rhythmic phrases, syntax/harmony and context of a whole story/song to test for their interrelatedness within each domain. Following this, we conducted systematic correlation analyses between the competencies of both domains. Overall, selected competencies appeared to be appropriate for the measurement of language and music skills in young children with reference to comprehension, difficulty and a developmental perspective. In line with a hierarchical model of skill acquisition, performance on lower levels was predictive for the performance on higher levels within domains. Moreover, correlations between domains were stronger for competencies reflecting a similar level of cognitive processing, as expected. In conclusion, a systematic comparison of various competencies on distinct levels according to varying units turned out to be appropriate regarding comparability and interrelatedness. Results are discussed with regard to similarities and differences in the development of language and music skills as well

Authentic Language Opportunities: An Alternative Dual Language Model (ADLM)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winstead, Lisa

2006-01-01

This paper addresses an important topic--the isolation and or lack of inclusion of immigrant children in U.S. schools. Immigrant children constantly pour into U.S. schools and, especially as newcomers, their opportunities for authentic interaction with mainstream peers are limited. How can schools provide authentic language opportunities for…

A randomized trial comparison of the effects of verbal and pictorial naturalistic communication strategies on spoken language for young children with autism.

PubMed

Schreibman, Laura; Stahmer, Aubyn C

2014-05-01

Presently there is no consensus on the specific behavioral treatment of choice for targeting language in young nonverbal children with autism. This randomized clinical trial compared the effectiveness of a verbally-based intervention, Pivotal Response Training (PRT) to a pictorially-based behavioral intervention, the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) on the acquisition of spoken language by young (2-4 years), nonverbal or minimally verbal (≤9 words) children with autism. Thirty-nine children were randomly assigned to either the PRT or PECS condition. Participants received on average 247 h of intervention across 23 weeks. Dependent measures included overall communication, expressive vocabulary, pictorial communication and parent satisfaction. Children in both intervention groups demonstrated increases in spoken language skills, with no significant difference between the two conditions. Seventy-eight percent of all children exited the program with more than 10 functional words. Parents were very satisfied with both programs but indicated PECS was more difficult to implement.

The Effect of Microstructure and Pre-strain on the Change in Apparent Young's Modulus of a Dual-Phase Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kupke, A.; Hodgson, P. D.; Weiss, M.

2017-07-01

The elastic recovery in dual-phase (DP) steels is not a linear process and changes with plastic deformation. The level of change in the apparent Young's modulus has been reported to depend on material composition and microstructure, but most previous experimental studies were limited to industrial DP steels and led to contradicting results. This work represents a first fundamental study that investigates the separate and combined effect of phase volume fraction and hardness on the change in apparent Young's modulus in DP steel. A common automotive DP steel (DP780) is heat treated to obtain seven different combinations of martensite and ferrite volume fraction and hardness while keeping the chemical composition as well as the shape of the martensite and ferrite phases unchanged. Loading-unloading tests were performed to analyze the chord modulus at various levels of pre-strain. The results suggest that the point of saturation of the chord modulus with pre-strain depends on the morphology of the microstructure, occurring earlier for microstructures consisting of ferrite grains surrounded by martensite laths. It is further revealed that the reduction of the apparent Young's modulus, which is the difference between the material's initial Young's modulus and the chord modulus, increases with martensite hardness if the martensite volume fraction is kept constant. A higher martensite volume fraction initially elevates the reduction of the apparent Young's modulus. After a critical volume fraction of martensite phase of 35%, a decrease in apparent Young's modulus reduction was observed. A comparison of the plastic unloading strain suggests that the mechanisms leading to a reduction in apparent Young's modulus are strongest for the microstructure consisting of 35% martensite volume fraction.

Language Multiplicity and Dynamism: Emergent Bilinguals Taking Ownership of Language Use in a Hybrid Curricular Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martínez-Álvarez, Patricia

2017-01-01

This study explores the impact of hybrid instructional spaces on the purposeful and expansive use of translanguaging practices. Utilizing technology, the study explores the role of multimodality in bilinguals' language multiplicity and dynamism. The research addresses: (a) how do emergent bilinguals in dual language programs deploy their full…

Imitation (rather than core language) predicts pragmatic development in young children with ASD: a preliminary longitudinal study using CDI parental reports.

PubMed

Miniscalco, Carmela; Rudling, Maja; Råstam, Maria; Gillberg, Christopher; Johnels, Jakob Åsberg

2014-01-01

Research in the last decades has clearly pointed to the important role of language and communicative level when trying to understand developmental trajectories in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate whether (1) core language skills, measured as expressive vocabulary and grammar, and/or (2) pre-linguistic social-communicative skills, including gestures and imitation abilities, drive pragmatic language development in young children with ASD. We examined correlates and longitudinal predictors of pragmatic growth in a sample of 34 children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), whose parents were given parts of two MacArthur Communicative Developmental Inventories (CDI: Words & Gestures and CDI: Words & Sentences) for completion at two time points (at time 1 the mean child age was 41 months, and at time 2 it was 54 months). A novel feature in this study is that the relevant parts from both CDI forms were included at both time points, allowing us to examine whether pre-linguistic social-communication skills (e.g. imitation and gesturing) and/or core language skills (i.e. grammar and vocabulary) predict pragmatic language growth. The results show that basically all pre-linguistic, linguistic and pragmatic skills were associated concurrently. When controlling for possible confounders and for the autoregressive effect, imitation skills predicted pragmatic growth over time, whereas core language did not. This could only have been shown by the use of both CDI forms. This preliminary study may be of both conceptual and methodological importance for research in the field of language and communication development in ASD. Imitation may play a pivotal role in the development of subsequent conversational pragmatic abilities in young children with ASD. Future research should be directed at unravelling the mechanisms underlying this association. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Cognitive Predictors of Language Development in Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Daal, John; Verhoeven, Ludo; van Balkom, Hans

2009-01-01

Background: Language development is generally viewed as a multifactorial process. There are increasing indications that this similarly holds for the problematic language development process. Aims: A population of 97 young Dutch children with specific language impairment (SLI) was followed over a 2-year period to provide additional evidence for the…

Blackfeet Language Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boehmler, Eileen

1979-01-01

A survey is presented of the Blackfeet language that is used in the Browning area of Montana. The purpose of the survey is to determine the extent to which the language is spoken and passed on at home, and the degree of interest in the language among the young people. The results are presented along with comments where appropriate. Generally, it…

Dual Diathesis-Stressor Model of Emotional and Linguistic Contributions to Developmental Stuttering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walden, Tedra A.; Frankel, Carl B.; Buhr, Anthony P.; Johnson, Kia N.; Conture, Edward G.; Karrass, Jan M.

2012-01-01

This study assessed emotional and speech-language contributions to childhood stuttering. A dual diathesis-stressor framework guided this study, in which both linguistic requirements and skills, and emotion and its regulation, are hypothesized to contribute to stuttering. The language diathesis consists of expressive and receptive language skills.…

The Relationship between English Language Arts Teachers' Use of Instructional Strategies and Young Adolescents' Reading Motivation, Engagement, and Preference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varuzza, Michelle; Sinatra, Richard; Eschenauer, Robert; Blake, Brett Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Conducted at 10 schools in four communities, this study investigated relationships of young adolescents' reading motivation, reading preference, and reading engagement as influenced by their English Language Arts teachers' use of instructional strategies. Students in eight sixth grade (N = 196) and nine seventh grade (N = 218) classes completed a…

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…

Counseling Dual Career Families: Heterosexual and Lesbian Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eldridge, Natalie S.

Young women now have more freedom to shape themselves than young women anywhere or at any time in history. In counseling women for dual-career families the real and imagined difficulties must be addressed and their courage and self-conviction strengthened, not undermined. Especially crucial to the counseling process with these women is an…

The Cultural Responsiveness and Dual Language Education Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fort, Pilar; Stechuk, Robert

2008-01-01

Early childhood programs are experiencing increasing numbers of children who are learning English as a second language. Staff members struggle with how to best support children and families who are working to preserve their home language and culture while helping their children succeed in educational settings outside the home where English is the…

Grammatical Constraints on Language Switching: Language Control is not Just Executive Control

PubMed Central

Gollan, Tamar H.; Goldrick, Matthew

2016-01-01

The current study investigated the roles of grammaticality and executive control on bilingual language selection by examining production speed and failures of language control, or intrusion errors (e.g., saying el instead of the), in young and aging bilinguals. Production of mixed-language connected speech was elicited by asking Spanish-English bilinguals to read aloud paragraphs that had mostly grammatical (conforming to naturally occurring constraints) or mostly ungrammatical (haphazard mixing) language switches, and low or high switching rate. Mixed-language speech was slower and less accurate when switch-rate was high, but especially (for speed) or only (for intrusion errors) if switches were also ungrammatical. Executive function ability (measured with a variety of tasks in young bilinguals in Experiment 1, and aging bilinguals in Experiment 2), slowed production and increased intrusion rate in a generalized fashion, but with little or no interaction with grammaticality. Aging effects appeared to reflect reduced monitoring ability (evidenced by a lower rate of self-corrected intrusions). These results demonstrate robust effects of grammatical encoding on language selection, and imply that executive control influences bilingual language production only after sentence planning and lexical selection. PMID:27667899

Single- and dual-task performance during on-the-road driving at a low and moderate dose of alcohol: A comparison between young novice and more experienced drivers.

PubMed

Jongen, Stefan; van der Sluiszen, Nick N J J M; Brown, Dennis; Vuurman, Eric F P M

2018-05-01

Driving experience and alcohol are two factors associated with a higher risk of crash involvement in young novice drivers. Driving a car is a complex task involving multiple tasks leading to dividing attention. The aim of this study was to compare the single and combined effects of a low and moderate dose of alcohol on single- and dual-task performance between young novice and more experienced young drivers during actual driving. Nine healthy novice drivers were compared with 9 more experienced drivers in a three-way, placebo-controlled, cross-over study design. Driving performance was measured in actual traffic, with standard deviation of lateral position as the primary outcome variable. Secondary task performance was measured with an auditory word learning test during driving. Results showed that standard deviation of lateral position increased dose-dependently at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.2 and 0.5 g/L in both novice and experienced drivers. Secondary task performance was impaired in both groups at a BAC of 0.5 g/L. Furthermore, it was found that driving performance in novice drivers was already impaired at a BAC of 0.2 g/L during dual-task performance. The findings suggest that young inexperienced drivers are especially vulnerable to increased mental load while under the influence of alcohol. © 2018 The Authors Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Language, Name, and Concept

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bronowski, J.; Bellugi, Ursula

1970-01-01

Summarizes the results of attempts to teach a young chimpanzee to use sign language, and raises questions about the uniqueness of human language. Analyzes language development in children and suggests that humans differ from nonhuman primates in the ability to analyze the environment into parts which can be manipulated in the mind, and that it is…

The Rudiments of Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canfield, John V.

1995-01-01

Discusses the question of whether nonhuman species, such as apes, possess rudimentary language, focusing on the ideas of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Noam Chomsky in regard to the development of oral language in young children and apes. (51 references) (MDM)

Correlates of sexual, ethnic, and dual identity: a study of young Asian and Pacific Islander men who have sex with men.

PubMed

Vu, Lung; Choi, Kyung-Hee; Do, Tri

2011-10-01

Having a positive attitude toward one's own sexual and ethnic identity can improve psychological well-being and self-efficacy and may reduce vulnerability to HIV infection. We sought to understand factors associated with having greater self-worth about being Asian and Pacific Islander (API), being gay/bisexual, and being both gay/bisexual and API (dual identity). We conducted serial, cross-sectional surveys of 763 API men who have sex with men (MSM) annually from 1999 to 2002 in San Diego, California and Seattle, Washington. We found (a) sexual and ethnic identity were intertwined and mutually influential; (b) a positive attitude toward sexual identity was associated with higher socioeconomic status, greater social support, and self-identified homosexual orientation (as opposed to "straight/undecided"); (c) a positive dual identity was associated with higher socioeconomic status, greater social support, and levels of acculturation (being United States born and speaking English and another language equally); and (d) a positive sexual identity and dual identity were associated with HIV testing. The findings suggest that targeted programs should address cultural issues at the intersection of sexual and ethnic identity, promote social support and self-acceptance around homosexual identity, and help MSM build a positive sense of self to foster their self-esteem and HIV prevention self-efficacy.

Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking (IPL): investigating language comprehension in typically developing toddlers and young children with autism.

PubMed

Naigles, Letitia R; Tovar, Andrea T

2012-12-14

One of the defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is difficulty with language and communication.(1) Children with ASD's onset of speaking is usually delayed, and many children with ASD consistently produce language less frequently and of lower lexical and grammatical complexity than their typically developing (TD) peers.(6,8,12,23) However, children with ASD also exhibit a significant social deficit, and researchers and clinicians continue to debate the extent to which the deficits in social interaction account for or contribute to the deficits in language production.(5,14,19,25) Standardized assessments of language in children with ASD usually do include a comprehension component; however, many such comprehension tasks assess just one aspect of language (e.g., vocabulary),(5) or include a significant motor component (e.g., pointing, act-out), and/or require children to deliberately choose between a number of alternatives. These last two behaviors are known to also be challenging to children with ASD.(7,12,13,16) We present a method which can assess the language comprehension of young typically developing children (9-36 months) and children with autism.(2,4,9,11,22) This method, Portable Intermodal Preferential Looking (P-IPL), projects side-by-side video images from a laptop onto a portable screen. The video images are paired first with a 'baseline' (nondirecting) audio, and then presented again paired with a 'test' linguistic audio that matches only one of the video images. Children's eye movements while watching the video are filmed and later coded. Children who understand the linguistic audio will look more quickly to, and longer at, the video that matches the linguistic audio.(2,4,11,18,22,26) This paradigm includes a number of components that have recently been miniaturized (projector, camcorder, digitizer) to enable portability and easy setup in children's homes. This is a crucial point for assessing young children with ASD, who are

Development of the Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) test to assess key markers of specific language and literacy difficulties in young children.

PubMed

Gardner, Hilary; Froud, Karen; McClelland, Alastair; van der Lely, Heather K J

2006-01-01

Despite a large body of evidence regarding reliable indicators of language deficits in young children, there has not been a standardized, quick screen for language impairment. The Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) test was therefore designed as a short, reliable assessment of young children's language abilities. GAPS was designed to provide a quick screening test to assess whether pre- and early school entry children have the necessary grammar and pre-reading phonological skills needed for education and social development. This paper reports the theoretical background to the test, the pilot study and reliability, and the standardization. This 10-min test comprises 11 test sentences and eight test nonsense words for direct imitation and is designed to highlight significant markers of language impairment and reading difficulties. To standardize the GAPS, 668 children aged 3.4-6.6 were tested across the UK, taking into account population distribution and socio-economic status. The test was carried out by a range of health and education professionals as well as by students and carers using only simple, written instructions. GAPS is effective in detecting a range of children in need of further in-depth assessment or monitoring for language difficulties. The results concur with those from much larger epidemiological studies using lengthy testing procedures. The GAPS test (1) provides a successful screening tool; (2) is designed to be administered by professionals and non-professionals alike; and (3) facilitates identification of language impairment or at-risk factors of reading impairment in the early educational years. Thus, the test affords a first step in a process of assessment and targeted intervention to enable children to reach their potential.

Self-Ratings of Spoken Language Dominance: A Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) and Preliminary Norms for Young and Aging Spanish-English Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gollan, Tamar H.; Weissberger, Gali H.; Runnqvist, Elin; Montoya, Rosa I.; Cera, Cynthia M.

2012-01-01

This study investigated correspondence between different measures of bilingual language proficiency contrasting self-report, proficiency interview, and picture naming skills. Fifty-two young (Experiment 1) and 20 aging (Experiment 2) Spanish-English bilinguals provided self-ratings of proficiency level, were interviewed for spoken proficiency, and…

Children's Learning from Touch Screens: A Dual Representation Perspective.

PubMed

Sheehan, Kelly J; Uttal, David H

2016-01-01

Parents and educators often expect that children will learn from touch screen devices, such as during joint e-book reading. Therefore an essential question is whether young children understand that the touch screen can be a symbolic medium - that entities represented on the touch screen can refer to entities in the real world. Research on symbolic development suggests that symbolic understanding requires that children develop dual representational abilities, meaning children need to appreciate that a symbol is an object in itself (i.e., picture of a dog) while also being a representation of something else (i.e., the real dog). Drawing on classic research on symbols and new research on children's learning from touch screens, we offer the perspective that children's ability to learn from the touch screen as a symbolic medium depends on the effect of interactivity on children's developing dual representational abilities. Although previous research on dual representation suggests the interactive nature of the touch screen might make it difficult for young children to use as a symbolic medium, the unique interactive affordances may help alleviate this difficulty. More research needs to investigate how the interactivity of the touch screen affects children's ability to connect the symbols on the screen to the real world. Given the interactive nature of the touch screen, researchers and educators should consider both the affordances of the touch screen as well as young children's cognitive abilities when assessing whether young children can learn from it as a symbolic medium.

Subtyping stuttering II: contributions from language and temperament.

PubMed

Seery, Carol Hubbard; Watkins, Ruth V; Mangelsdorf, Sarah C; Shigeto, Aya

2007-01-01

This paper is the second in a series of two articles exploring subtypes of stuttering, and it addresses the question of whether and how language ability and temperament variables may be relevant to the study of subtypes within the larger population of children who stutter. Despite observations of varied profiles among young children who stutter, efforts to identify and characterize subtypes of stuttering have had limited influence on theoretical or clinical understanding of the disorder. This manuscript briefly highlights research on language and temperament in young children who stutter, and considers whether the results can provide guidance for efforts to more effectively investigate and elucidate subtypes in childhood stuttering. Issues from the literature that appear relevant to research on stuttering subtypes include: (a) the question of whether stuttering is best characterized as categorical or continuous; (b) interpretation of individual differences in skills and profiles; and (c) the fact that, during the preschool years, the interaction among domains such as language and temperament are changing very rapidly, resulting in large differences in developmental profiles within relatively brief chronological age periods. The reader will be able to: (1) discuss possible associations of language ability and temperament to the development of stuttering in young children; (2) summarize the subtyping research from the literature on language ability and temperament in young children; (3) generate directions for future research of stuttering subtypes drawn from the literature related to language ability and temperament in young children.

A Study in Content Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broer, Kathleen

2003-01-01

This study examines how young second language learners acquire academic language. Among the main language groups represented were Punjabi, Hindi, Tamil, Estonian, Serbian, Arabic as well as 23 other language groups. I monitored over 75 students, in grades 1, 2 and 4. I was interested in exploring what strategies best promoted coherence in…

Atypical language representation in children with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Maulisova, Alice; Korman, Brandon; Rey, Gustavo; Bernal, Byron; Duchowny, Michael; Niederlova, Marketa; Krsek, Pavel; Novak, Vilem

2016-05-01

This study evaluated language organization in children with intractable epilepsy caused by temporal lobe focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) alone or dual pathology (temporal lobe FCD and hippocampal sclerosis, HS). We analyzed clinical, neurological, fMRI, neuropsychological, and histopathologic data in 46 pediatric patients with temporal lobe lesions who underwent excisional epilepsy surgery. The frequency of atypical language representation was similar in both groups, but children with dual pathology were more likely to be left-handed. Atypical receptive language cortex correlated with lower intellectual capacity, verbal abstract conceptualization, receptive language abilities, verbal working memory, and a history of status epilepticus but did not correlate with higher seizure frequency or early seizure onset. Histopathologic substrate had only a minor influence on neuropsychological status. Greater verbal comprehension deficits were noted in children with atypical receptive language representation, a risk factor for cognitive morbidity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dual use of electronic and tobacco cigarettes among adolescents: a cross-sectional study in Poland.

PubMed

Goniewicz, Maciej L; Leigh, Noel J; Gawron, Michal; Nadolska, Justyna; Balwicki, Lukasz; McGuire, Connor; Sobczak, Andrzej

2016-03-01

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are gaining in popularity among youth. While these products may be beneficial in adult smokers, the effect on young users of electronic and tobacco cigarettes (dual users) is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of dual use among adolescents and to compare tobacco cigarette consumption among dual and exclusive tobacco cigarette users. A cross-sectional survey of a sample of 2213 Polish students aged 16-18 conducted between December 2013 and February 2014. Overall, 21.8 % of students were dual users. Dual users were more likely to smoke tobacco cigarettes on a daily basis [adjusted odds ratio, AOR 3.54 (95 % CI 2.34-5.36) and less likely to smoke fewer cigarettes per day (AOR 0.27 (95 % CI 0.12-0.57)] than exclusive tobacco cigarette users. The frequency of dual use was higher than exclusive use of a single product among Polish adolescents. Young dual users do not smoke a lower number of tobacco cigarettes per day than exclusive tobacco cigarette users.

Determining Classroom Placement for First Year English Language Learner Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peña, Rodrigo H.; Maxwell, Gerri M.

2015-01-01

This study explores classroom placement for first year English Language Learner (ELL) students from the perspective of a dual language director and two bilingual education strategists. The study strives to interrogate classroom placement for first year ELL students whose language proficiency level is at beginning level. Through a process of coding…

Volitional control of attention and brain activation in dual task performance.

PubMed

Newman, Sharlene D; Keller, Timothy A; Just, Marcel Adam

2007-02-01

This study used functional MRI (fMRI) to examine the neural effects of willfully allocating one's attention to one of two ongoing tasks. In a dual task paradigm, participants were instructed to focus either on auditory sentence comprehension, mental rotation, or both. One of the major findings is that the distribution of brain activation was amenable to strategic control, such that the amount of activation per task was systematically related to the attention-dividing instructions. The activation in language processing regions was lower when attending to mental rotation than when attending to the sentences, and the activation in visuospatial processing regions was lower when attending to sentences than when attending to mental rotations. Additionally, the activation was found to be underadditive, with the dual-task condition eliciting less activation than the sum of the attend sentence and attend rotation conditions. We also observed a laterality shift across conditions within language-processing regions, with the attend sentence condition showing bilateral activation, while the dual task condition showed a left hemispheric dominance. This shift suggests multiple language-processing modes and may explain the underadditivity in activation observed in the current and previous studies.

Bilinguals’ Working Memory (WM) Advantage and Their Dual Language Practices

PubMed Central

Yang, Eunju

2017-01-01

The present study investigates a possible working memory (WM) difference between monolingual and bilingual groups and explores the relationship between their WM advantage and language practices. A mixed methods design was employed for the study. To measure participants’ WM, auditory and visual digit span tasks were conducted on the different language groups: 20 Korean near-monolinguals, and 40 Korean–English bilinguals with two different levels of second language (L2) proficiency. Bilinguals’ daily language practices were explored through semi-structured interviews with eight bilinguals. The convergence of the findings from both tests and interview data suggests that knowing two languages does not guarantee bilingual WM advantages over monolinguals, but the advantage might be linked to bilinguals’ unique L2 use environment where they need to hold incoming L2 information while decoding it. PMID:28718840

The Role of Affect in Intraindividual Variability in Task Performance for Young Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Yuko Goto

2017-01-01

Young learners (defined as children ages 5-12) of English as a foreign language are growing in number worldwide. At the policy level, foreign language (FL) programs for young learners are increasingly emphasizing the use of task-based language teaching (TBLT). In practice, however, designing and implementing tasks for young learners poses numerous…

Language and Disadvantage: A Comparison of the Language Abilities of Adolescents from Two Different Socioeconomic Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spencer, Sarah; Clegg, Judy; Stackhouse, Joy

2012-01-01

Background: It is recognized that children from areas associated with socioeconomic disadvantage are at an increased risk of delayed language development. However, so far research has focused mainly on young children and there has been little investigation into language development in adolescence. Aims: To investigate the language abilities of…

Mother Brand English as an Effective Approach to Teach English for Young Children as a Foreign Language in Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seung-Yoeun, Yoo; SookHee, Lee

2006-01-01

Parents must be the first teachers and the best English teachers for children in their whole life. Now in Korea, some brave and challenging mothers are innovating new English approaches in their homes with their young kids. They have goals that their children come to possess the ability to use the English language as a vehicle to think and solve…

Ten Steps to Conducting a Large, Multi-Site, Longitudinal Investigation of Language and Reading in Young Children

PubMed Central

Farquharson, Kelly; Murphy, Kimberly A.

2016-01-01

Purpose: This paper describes methodological procedures involving execution of a large-scale, multi-site longitudinal study of language and reading comprehension in young children. Researchers in the Language and Reading Research Consortium (LARRC) developed and implemented these procedures to ensure data integrity across multiple sites, schools, and grades. Specifically, major features of our approach, as well as lessons learned, are summarized in 10 steps essential for successful completion of a large-scale longitudinal investigation in early grades. Method: Over 5 years, children in preschool through third grade were administered a battery of 35 higher- and lower-level language, listening, and reading comprehension measures (RCM). Data were collected from children, their teachers, and their parents/guardians at four sites across the United States. Substantial and rigorous effort was aimed toward maintaining consistency in processes and data management across sites for children, assessors, and staff. Conclusion: With appropriate planning, flexibility, and communication strategies in place, LARRC developed and executed a successful multi-site longitudinal research study that will meet its goal of investigating the contribution and role of language skills in the development of children's listening and reading comprehension. Through dissemination of our design strategies and lessons learned, research teams embarking on similar endeavors can be better equipped to anticipate the challenges. PMID:27064308

A Helping Hand with Language Learning: Teaching French Vocabulary with Gesture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porter, Alison

2016-01-01

Finding ways to make language teaching practices both active and effective is of great importance for young learners. However, extending the foreign language production of young learners in instructional settings beyond the naming of objects is often challenging. The memorisation abilities of very young learners (children aged 5-7) sometimes…

Bilingual Children with Primary Language Impairment: Issues, Evidence and Implications for Clinical Actions

PubMed Central

Kohnert, Kathryn

2010-01-01

A clear understanding of how to best provide clinical serves to bilingual children with suspected or confirmed primary language impairment (PLI) is predicated on understanding typical development in dual-language learners as well as the PLI profile. This article reviews general characteristics of children learning two languages, including three that challenge the diagnosis and treatment of PLI; uneven distribution of abilities in the child's two languages, cross-linguistic associations within bilingual learners, and individual variation in response to similar social circumstances. The diagnostic category of PLI (also referred to in the literature as specific language impairment or SLI) is described with attention to how language impairment, in the face of otherwise typical development, manifests in children learning two languages. Empirical evidence related to differential diagnosis of PLI in bilingual children is then reviewed and issues related to the generalization of treatment gains in dual-language learners with PLI are introduced. PMID:20371080

A Lag between Understanding False Belief and Emotion Attribution in Young Children: Relationships with Linguistic Ability and Mothers' Mental-State Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Rosnay, Marc; Pons, Francisco; Harris, Paul L.; Morrell, Julian M. B.

2004-01-01

This study examines the contribution of children's linguistic ability and mothers' use of mental-state language to young children's understanding of false belief and their subsequent ability to make belief-based emotion attributions. In Experiment 1, children (N = 51) were given three belief-based emotion-attribution tasks. A standard task in…

"'Puro' Spelling and Grammar": Conceptualizations of Language and the Marginalization of Emergent Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poza, Luis E.

2016-01-01

Conceptualizations of language and language learning underlie language pedagogies (Valdés, Poza, & Brooks, 2015). The present work relies on ethnographic observation and interviews in a dual immersion (DI) bilingual program, as well as a content analysis of the research foundation of the English Language Development intervention curriculum, to…

Pragmatic Language Development in Language Impaired and Typically Developing Children: Incorrect Answers in Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryder, Nuala; Leinonen, Eeva

2014-01-01

This study focused on young children's incorrect answers to pragmatically demanding questions. Children with specific language impairment (SLI), including a subgroup with pragmatic language difficulties (PLD) and typically developing children answered questions targeting implicatures, based on a storybook and short verbal scenarios.…

Symbolic play and language development.

PubMed

Orr, Edna; Geva, Ronny

2015-02-01

Symbolic play and language are known to be highly interrelated, but the developmental process involved in this relationship is not clear. Three hypothetical paths were postulated to explore how play and language drive each other: (1) direct paths, whereby initiation of basic forms in symbolic action or babbling, will be directly related to all later emerging language and motor outputs; (2) an indirect interactive path, whereby basic forms in symbolic action will be associated with more complex forms in symbolic play, as well as with babbling, and babbling mediates the relationship between symbolic play and speech; and (3) a dual path, whereby basic forms in symbolic play will be associated with basic forms of language, and complex forms of symbolic play will be associated with complex forms of language. We micro-coded 288 symbolic vignettes gathered during a yearlong prospective bi-weekly examination (N=14; from 6 to 18 months of age). Results showed that the age of initiation of single-object symbolic play correlates strongly with the age of initiation of later-emerging symbolic and vocal outputs; its frequency at initiation is correlated with frequency at initiation of babbling, later-emerging speech, and multi-object play in initiation. Results support the notion that a single-object play relates to the development of other symbolic forms via a direct relationship and an indirect relationship, rather than a dual-path hypothesis. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The relation between language and arithmetic in bilinguals: insights from different stages of language acquisition

PubMed Central

Van Rinsveld, Amandine; Brunner, Martin; Landerl, Karin; Schiltz, Christine; Ugen, Sonja

2015-01-01

Solving arithmetic problems is a cognitive task that heavily relies on language processing. One might thus wonder whether this language-reliance leads to qualitative differences (e.g., greater difficulties, error types, etc.) in arithmetic for bilingual individuals who frequently have to solve arithmetic problems in more than one language. The present study investigated how proficiency in two languages interacts with arithmetic problem solving throughout language acquisition in adolescents and young adults. Additionally, we examined whether the number word structure that is specific to a given language plays a role in number processing over and above bilingual proficiency. We addressed these issues in a German–French educational bilingual setting, where there is a progressive transition from German to French as teaching language. Importantly, German and French number naming structures differ clearly, as two-digit number names follow a unit-ten order in German, but a ten-unit order in French. We implemented a transversal developmental design in which bilingual pupils from grades 7, 8, 10, 11, and young adults were asked to solve simple and complex additions in both languages. The results confirmed that language proficiency is crucial especially for complex addition computation. Simple additions in contrast can be retrieved equally well in both languages after extended language practice. Additional analyses revealed that over and above language proficiency, language-specific number word structures (e.g., unit-ten vs. ten-unit) also induced significant modulations of bilinguals' arithmetic performances. Taken together, these findings support the view of a strong relation between language and arithmetic in bilinguals. PMID:25821442

Outcomes of dual mobility cups in a young Middle Eastern population and its influence on life style.

PubMed

Assi, Chahine; El-Najjar, Elie; Samaha, Camille; Yammine, Kaissar

2017-03-01

Dual mobility cups (DMC) in total hip arthroplasty (THA) are becoming popular among orthopaedic surgeons. Substantial benefit of their use has been reported among high risk patients, particularly in reducing post-operative hip instability (dislocation). Many reports stated some concern when implanted in young and active people where complications such as polyethylene wear and mechanical loosening could potentially be higher. This Middle Eastern study analyses a retrospective series of THA for any aetiology other than infection, using DMC for the acetabular component in 75 patients (85 implants) less than 70 years old. No instability, intra-prosthetic dislocation or mechanical failure was reported during a mean follow-up of five years. The only major complication was a post-operative infection. The mean post- operative modified Harris hip score was 97.1 out of 100. All patients resumed their daily activities and all religious practicing patients were able to accomplish their prayer positions without pain. DMC is found to be an interesting option in reducing dislocation events in young patients. Those excellent short-term results would encourage surgeons to use DMC in an active and highly demanding population. Further research is necessary to confirm maintenance of such results at long term follow-up.

A Randomized Trial Comparison of the Effects of Verbal and Pictorial Naturalistic Communication Strategies on Spoken Language for Young Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schreibman, Laura; Stahmer, Aubyn C.

2014-01-01

Presently there is no consensus on the specific behavioral treatment of choice for targeting language in young nonverbal children with autism. This randomized clinical trial compared the effectiveness of a verbally-based intervention, Pivotal Response Training (PRT) to a pictorially-based behavioral intervention, the Picture Exchange Communication…

Linking Language and Categorization in Infancy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferguson, Brock; Waxman, Sandra

2017-01-01

Language exerts a powerful influence on our concepts. We review evidence documenting the developmental origins of a precocious link between language and object categories in very young infants. This collection of studies documents a cascading process in which early links between language and cognition provide the foundation for later, more precise…

Learning across Languages: Bilingual Experience Supports Dual Language Statistical Word Segmentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antovich, Dylan M.; Graf Estes, Katharine

2018-01-01

Bilingual acquisition presents learning challenges beyond those found in monolingual environments, including the need to segment speech in two languages. Infants may use statistical cues, such as syllable-level transitional probabilities, to segment words from fluent speech. In the present study we assessed monolingual and bilingual 14-month-olds'…

Identification of coronary artery anatomy on dual-source cardiac computed tomography before arterial switch operation in newborns and young infants: comparison with transthoracic echocardiography.

PubMed

Goo, Hyun Woo

2018-02-01

Considering inherent limitations of transthoracic echocardiography, the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac CT in identifying coronary artery anatomy before arterial switch operation needs to be investigated with recently improved coronary artery visibility using electrocardiogram (ECG)-synchronized dual-source CT. To compare diagnostic accuracy between cardiac CT using a dual-source scanner and transthoracic echocardiography in identifying coronary artery anatomy before arterial switch operation in newborns and young infants. The study included 101 infants (median age 4 days, range 0 days to 10 months; M:F=78:23) who underwent ECG-synchronized cardiac dual-source CT and transthoracic echocardiography before arterial switch operation between July 2011 and December 2016. We evaluated and classified coronary artery anatomy on cardiac CT and transthoracic echocardiography. With the surgical findings as the reference standard, we compared the diagnostic accuracy for identifying coronary artery anatomy between cardiac CT and transthoracic echocardiography. The most common coronary artery pattern was the usual pattern (left coronary artery from sinus 1 and right coronary artery from sinus 2; 64.4%, 65/101), followed by a single coronary artery from sinus 2 and a conal branch from sinus 1 (7.9%, 8/101), the inverted pattern (5.9%, 6/101), the right coronary artery and left anterior descending artery from sinus 1 and the left circumflex artery from sinus 2 (5.9%, 6/101), and others. In 96 infants with surgically proven coronary artery anatomy, the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac CT was significantly higher than that of transthoracic echocardiography (91.7%, 88/96 vs. 54.2%, 52/96; P<0.0001). Diagnostic accuracy of cardiac CT is significantly higher than that of echocardiography in identifying coronary artery anatomy before arterial switch operation in newborns and young infants.

Language Policy toward Equity: How Bilingual Teachers Use Policy Mandates to Their Own Ends

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zuniga, Christian E.; Henderson, Kathryn I.; Palmer, Deborah K.

2018-01-01

The article explores the intersection of equity goals and language ideologies within a dual language bilingual education (DLBE) language policy context. We present two DLBE teachers, Karina and Marisol, and explore their language ideologies and professional conviction towards equitable learning opportunities for their students. We investigate how…

A North and Far North Queensland Initiative: Rethinking the "Why" When Promoting Languages Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boulard, Florence

2015-01-01

Despite the recent Australian Government commitment to supporting schools in growing students into global citizens, language educators cannot rely on this alone to attract new language students. The Young Language Ambassador Program is a new initiative that started in August 2014. The Young Language Ambassador Program is a partnership between…

Pre-Service Preschool Teachers' Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning and Early Foreign Language Teaching in Slovenia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fojkar, Mateja Dagarin; Skubic, Darija

2017-01-01

The implementation of foreign languages in preschool education has prompted the need for qualified teachers. However, most recent studies report a gap between the supply of qualified foreign language teachers of young learners and the demand for such teachers as foreign languages are introduced earlier and earlier. The authors of this paper…

Lexicons, contexts, events, and images: commentary on Elman (2009) from the perspective of dual coding theory.

PubMed

Paivio, Allan; Sadoski, Mark

2011-01-01

Elman (2009) proposed that the traditional role of the mental lexicon in language processing can largely be replaced by a theoretical model of schematic event knowledge founded on dynamic context-dependent variables. We evaluate Elman's approach and propose an alternative view, based on dual coding theory and evidence that modality-specific cognitive representations contribute strongly to word meaning and language performance across diverse contexts which also have effects predictable from dual coding theory. Copyright © 2010 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

A Dual Coding View of Vocabulary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadoski, Mark

2005-01-01

A theoretical perspective on acquiring sight vocabulary and developing meaningful vocabulary is presented. Dual Coding Theory assumes that cognition occurs in two independent but connected codes: a verbal code for language and a nonverbal code for mental imagery. The mixed research literature on using pictures in teaching sight vocabulary is…

Language experience narratives and the role of autobiographical reasoning in becoming an urban science teacher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivera Maulucci, Maria S.

2011-06-01

One of the central challenges globalization and immigration present to education is how to construct school language policies, procedures, and curricula to support academic success of immigrant youth. This case-study compares and contrasts language experience narratives along Elena's developmental trajectory of becoming an urban science teacher. Elena reflects upon her early language experiences and her more recent experiences as a preservice science teacher in elementary dual language classrooms. The findings from Elena's early schooling experiences provide an analysis of the linkages between Elena's developing English proficiency, her Spanish proficiency, and her autobiographical reasoning. Elena's experiences as a preservice teacher in two elementary dual language classrooms indicates ways in which those experiences helped to reframe her views about the intersections between language learning and science learning. I propose the language experience narrative, as a subset of the life story, as a way to understand how preservice teachers reconstruct past language experiences, connect to the present, and anticipate future language practices.

Fostering Self-Regulated Learning through the European Language Portfolio: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziegler, Nicholas Allan

2014-01-01

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is an alternative assessment used in foreign language classes throughout Europe to support and record language learning. Directly linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001) proficiency guidelines, it is designed to achieve an ambitious dual goal: document…

Electronic Cigarette Use in Straight-to-Work Young Adults.

PubMed

Cheney, Marshall K; Gowin, Mary; Wann, Taylor F

2016-03-01

We explored beliefs about electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as well as social influences on e-cigarette use in straight-to-work (STW) young adults. Thirty interviews were conducted with STW young adults ages 19-31 years old. We asked participants about smoking and e-cigarette use, beliefs about e-cigarettes, and influences on decisions to use e-cigarettes. We conducted interviews in community locations and transcribed and coded them using NVivo. We identified 4 themes: benefits of e-cigarette use; dual use/continued smoking; social influences; and quitting smoking and e-cigarettes. STW young adults initiated e-cigarette use to quit smoking but most became dual users or reported cycles of smoking and e-cigarette use. Flavors were a primary attraction for e-cigarette users. Family and friends supported e-cigarette use and often provided participants with their first e-cigarette. Most participants who no longer identified as smokers still smoked occasionally. Users felt they were more positively perceived by others when they used e-cigarettes but were still seen as smokers or former smokers. E-cigarette use may bring STW young adults closer to their aspirational identity of non-smoker but many may be vulnerable to smoking relapse or increased dependence on nicotine through dual use.

Cultivating Space for the Language Boomerang: The Interplay of Two Languages as Academic Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin-Beltran, Melinda

2009-01-01

Grounded in sociocultural theory, this study uses an ecological approach to examine how student interactions within a dual-language school context may offer affordances for increased linguistic and conceptual understanding. Using qualitative analysis of student discourse, this paper focuses on data from recorded interactions between pairs of…

Age-related decrements in dual-task performance: Comparison of different mobility and cognitive tasks. A cross sectional study.

PubMed

Brustio, Paolo Riccardo; Magistro, Daniele; Zecca, Massimiliano; Rabaglietti, Emanuela; Liubicich, Monica Emma

2017-01-01

This cross-sectional study investigated the age-related differences in dual-task performance both in mobility and cognitive tasks and the additive dual-task costs in a sample of older, middle-aged and young adults. 74 older adults (M = 72.63±5.57 years), 58 middle-aged adults (M = 46.69±4.68 years) and 63 young adults (M = 25.34±3.00 years) participated in the study. Participants performed different mobility and subtraction tasks under both single- and dual-task conditions. Linear regressions, repeated-measures and one-way analyses of covariance were used, The results showed: significant effects of the age on the dual and mobility tasks (p<0.05) and differences among the age-groups in the combined dual-task costs (p<0.05); significant decreases in mobility performance under dual-task conditions in all groups (p<0.05) and a decrease in cognitive performance in the older group (p<0.05). Dual-task activity affected mobility and cognitive performance, especially in older adults who showed a higher dual-task cost, suggesting that dual-tasks activities are affected by the age and consequently also mobility and cognitive tasks are negatively influenced.

Age-related decrements in dual-task performance: Comparison of different mobility and cognitive tasks. A cross sectional study

PubMed Central

Brustio, Paolo Riccardo; Zecca, Massimiliano; Rabaglietti, Emanuela; Liubicich, Monica Emma

2017-01-01

This cross-sectional study investigated the age-related differences in dual-task performance both in mobility and cognitive tasks and the additive dual-task costs in a sample of older, middle-aged and young adults. 74 older adults (M = 72.63±5.57 years), 58 middle-aged adults (M = 46.69±4.68 years) and 63 young adults (M = 25.34±3.00 years) participated in the study. Participants performed different mobility and subtraction tasks under both single- and dual-task conditions. Linear regressions, repeated-measures and one-way analyses of covariance were used, The results showed: significant effects of the age on the dual and mobility tasks (p<0.05) and differences among the age-groups in the combined dual-task costs (p<0.05); significant decreases in mobility performance under dual-task conditions in all groups (p<0.05) and a decrease in cognitive performance in the older group (p<0.05). Dual-task activity affected mobility and cognitive performance, especially in older adults who showed a higher dual-task cost, suggesting that dual-tasks activities are affected by the age and consequently also mobility and cognitive tasks are negatively influenced. PMID:28732080

Changes in Standing and Walking Performance Under Dual-Task Conditions Across the Lifespan.

PubMed

Ruffieux, Jan; Keller, Martin; Lauber, Benedikt; Taube, Wolfgang

2015-12-01

Simultaneous performance of a postural and a concurrent task is rather unproblematic as long as the postural task is executed in an automatic way. However, in situations where postural control requires more central processing, cognitive resources may be exceeded by the addition of an attentionally demanding task. This may lead to interference between the two tasks, manifested in a decreased performance in one or both tasks (dual-task costs). Owing to changes in attentional demands of postural tasks as well as processing capacities across the lifespan, it might be assumed that dual-task costs are particularly pronounced in children and older adults probably leading to a U-shaped pattern for dual-task costs as a function of age. However, these changes in the ability of dual-tasking posture from childhood to old age have not yet been systematically reviewed. Therefore, Web of Science and PubMed databases were searched for studies comparing dual-task performance with one task being standing or walking in healthy groups of young adults and either children or older adults. Seventy-nine studies met inclusion criteria. For older adults, the expected increase in dual-task costs could be confirmed. In contrast, in children there was only feeble evidence for a trend towards enlarged dual-task costs. More good-quality studies comparing dual-task ability in children, young, and, ideally, also older adults within the same paradigm are needed to draw unambiguous conclusions about lifespan development of dual-task performance in postural tasks. There is evidence that, in older adults, dual-task performance can be improved by training. For the other age groups, these effects have yet to be investigated.

Dual diathesis-stressor model of emotional and linguistic contributions to developmental stuttering.

PubMed

Walden, Tedra A; Frankel, Carl B; Buhr, Anthony P; Johnson, Kia N; Conture, Edward G; Karrass, Jan M

2012-05-01

This study assessed emotional and speech-language contributions to childhood stuttering. A dual diathesis-stressor framework guided this study, in which both linguistic requirements and skills, and emotion and its regulation, are hypothesized to contribute to stuttering. The language diathesis consists of expressive and receptive language skills. The emotion diathesis consists of proclivities to emotional reactivity and regulation of emotion, and the emotion stressor consists of experimentally manipulated emotional inductions prior to narrative speaking tasks. Preschool-age children who do and do not stutter were exposed to three emotion-producing overheard conversations-neutral, positive, and angry. Emotion and emotion-regulatory behaviors were coded while participants listened to each conversation and while telling a story after each overheard conversation. Instances of stuttering during each story were counted. Although there was no main effect of conversation type, results indicated that stuttering in preschool-age children is influenced by emotion and language diatheses, as well as coping strategies and situational emotional stressors. Findings support the dual diathesis-stressor model of stuttering.

Dual Diathesis-Stressor Model of Emotional and Linguistic Contributions to Developmental Stuttering

PubMed Central

Frankel, Carl B.; Buhr, Anthony P.; Johnson, Kia N.; Conture, Edward G.; Karrass, Jan M.

2013-01-01

This study assessed emotional and speech-language contributions to childhood stuttering. A dual diathesis-stressor framework guided this study, in which both linguistic requirements and skills, and emotion and its regulation, are hypothesized to contribute to stuttering. The language diathesis consists of expressive and receptive language skills. The emotion diathesis consists of proclivities to emotional reactivity and regulation of emotion, and the emotion stressor consists of experimentally manipulated emotional inductions prior to narrative speaking tasks. Preschool-age children who do and do not stutter were exposed to three emotion-producing overheard conversations—neutral, positive, and angry. Emotion and emotion-regulatory behaviors were coded while participants listened to each conversation and while telling a story after each overheard conversation. Instances of stuttering during each story were counted. Although there was no main effect of conversation type, results indicated that stuttering in preschool-age children is influenced by emotion and language diatheses, as well as coping strategies and situational emotional stressors. Findings support the dual diathesis-stressor model of stuttering. PMID:22016200

EEG measures reveal dual-task interference in postural performance in young adults

PubMed Central

Woollacott, Marjorie

2014-01-01

The study used a dual-task (DT) postural paradigm (two tasks performed at once) that included electroencephalography (EEG) to examine cortical interference when a visual working memory (VWM) task was paired with a postural task. The change detection task was used, as it requires storage of information without updating or manipulation and predicts VWM capacity. Ground reaction forces (GRFs) (horizontal and vertical), EMG, and EEG elements, time locked to support surface perturbations, were used to infer the active neural processes underlying the automatic control of balance in 14 young adults. A significant reduction was seen between single task (ST) and DT conditions in VWM capacity (F(1,13) = 6.175, p < 0.05, r = 0.6) and event-related potential (ERP) N1 component amplitude over the L motor (p < 0.001) and R sensory (p < 0.05) cortical areas. In addition, a significant increase in the COP trajectory peak (pkcopx) was seen in the DT versus ST condition. Modulation of VWM capacity as well as ERP amplitude and pkcopx in DT conditions provided evidence of an interference pattern, suggesting that the two modalities shared a similar set of attentional resources. The results provide direct evidence of the competition for central processing attentional resources between the two modalities, through the reduction in amplitude of the ERP evoked by the postural perturbation. PMID:25273924

Flexibility in Young Second-Language Learners: Examining the Language Specificity of Orthographic Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deacon, S. Helene; Wade-Woolley, Lesly; Kirby, John R.

2009-01-01

This study examines whether orthographic processing transfers across languages to reading when the writing systems under acquisition are sufficiently related. We conducted a study with 76 7-year-old English-first-language children in French immersion. Measures of English and French orthographic processing (orthographic choice tasks) and…

The Marketing of Dual Language Education Policy in Utah Print Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valdez, Verónica E.; Delavan, Garrett; Freire, Juan A.

2016-01-01

We argue the emergence of a shift in U.S. language education policy discourses from an equity/heritage (EH) framework focused on equity for English learners and non-English heritage languages, toward a global human capital (GHC) framework linked to neoliberal considerations of the language skills of individuals and nations. This discursive shift…

Frequency of Educational Computer Use as a Longitudinal Predictor of Educational Outcome in Young People with Specific Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Durkin, Kevin; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

2012-01-01

Computer use draws on linguistic abilities. Using this medium thus presents challenges for young people with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and raises questions of whether computer-based tasks are appropriate for them. We consider theoretical arguments predicting impaired performance and negative outcomes relative to peers without SLI versus the possibility of positive gains. We examine the relationship between frequency of computer use (for leisure and educational purposes) and educational achievement; in particular examination performance at the end of compulsory education and level of educational progress two years later. Participants were 49 young people with SLI and 56 typically developing (TD) young people. At around age 17, the two groups did not differ in frequency of educational computer use or leisure computer use. There were no associations between computer use and educational outcomes in the TD group. In the SLI group, after PIQ was controlled for, educational computer use at around 17 years of age contributed substantially to the prediction of educational progress at 19 years. The findings suggest that educational uses of computers are conducive to educational progress in young people with SLI. PMID:23300610

Young Children's Language of Togetherness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Haan, Dorian; Singer, Elly

2001-01-01

Discusses verbal strategies used by young children to express and construct a sense of togetherness. Presents the case study of one child, 3-5 years old, in his interactions with other children and teachers. Describes three general mechanisms for expressing togetherness: expression of common ground, of cooperation, and of care. (JPB)

Children creating language: how Nicaraguan sign language acquired a spatial grammar.

PubMed

Senghas, A; Coppola, M

2001-07-01

It has long been postulated that language is not purely learned, but arises from an interaction between environmental exposure and innate abilities. The innate component becomes more evident in rare situations in which the environment is markedly impoverished. The present study investigated the language production of a generation of deaf Nicaraguans who had not been exposed to a developed language. We examined the changing use of early linguistic structures (specifically, spatial modulations) in a sign language that has emerged since the Nicaraguan group first came together: In tinder two decades, sequential cohorts of learners systematized the grammar of this new sign language. We examined whether the systematicity being added to the language stems from children or adults: our results indicate that such changes originate in children aged 10 and younger Thus, sequential cohorts of interacting young children collectively: possess the capacity not only to learn, but also to create, language.

Professionals' Guidance about Spoken Language Multilingualism and Spoken Language Choice for Children with Hearing Loss

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crowe, Kathryn; McLeod, Sharynne

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate factors that influence professionals' guidance of parents of children with hearing loss regarding spoken language multilingualism and spoken language choice. Sixteen professionals who provide services to children and young people with hearing loss completed an online survey, rating the importance of…

Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyman, Leisy

2012-01-01

Detailing a decade of life and language use in a remote Alaskan Yup'ik community, Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance provides rare insight into young people's language brokering and Indigenous people's contemporary linguistic ecologies. This book examines how two consecutive groups of youth in a Yup'ik village…

Engaging Prekindergarten Dual Language Learners in Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Meredith K.; Shue, Pamela L.

2013-01-01

In a preschool class where the teachers speak only English and the majority of the children speak only Spanish, it is challenging to choose a topic that is interesting enough to engage all children in project work that supports language development. Luckily for the children, pizza is a delicious, familiar, and easily accessible topic to explore.…

Neuroimaging of decoding and language comprehension in young very low birth weight (VLBW) adolescents: Indications for compensatory mechanisms.

PubMed

van Ettinger-Veenstra, Helene; Widén, Carin; Engström, Maria; Karlsson, Thomas; Leijon, Ingemar; Nelson, Nina

2017-01-01

In preterm children with very low birth weight (VLBW ≤ 1500 g), reading problems are often observed. Reading comprehension is dependent on word decoding and language comprehension. We investigated neural activation-within brain regions important for reading-related to components of reading comprehension in young VLBW adolescents in direct comparison to normal birth weight (NBW) term-born peers, with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We hypothesized that the decoding mechanisms will be affected by VLBW, and expect to see increased neural activity for VLBW which may be modulated by task performance and cognitive ability. The study investigated 13 (11 included in fMRI) young adolescents (ages 12 to 14 years) born preterm with VLBW and in 13 NBW controls (ages 12-14 years) for performance on the Block Design and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; and for semantic, orthographic, and phonological processing during an fMRI paradigm. The VLBW group showed increased phonological activation in left inferior frontal gyrus, decreased orthographic activation in right supramarginal gyrus, and decreased semantic activation in left inferior frontal gyrus. Block Design was related to altered right-hemispheric activation, and VLBW showed lower WISC Block Design scores. Left angular gyrus showed activation increase specific for VLBW with high accuracy on the semantic test. Young VLBW adolescents showed no accuracy and reaction time performance differences on our fMRI language tasks, but they did exhibit altered neural activation during these tasks. This altered activation for VLBW was observed as increased activation during phonological decoding, and as mainly decreased activation during orthographic and semantic processing. Correlations of neural activation with accuracy on the semantic fMRI task and with decreased WISC Block Design performance were specific for the VLBW group. Together, results suggest compensatory

Longitudinal effects of bilingualism on dual-tasking

PubMed Central

Josefsson, Maria; Marsh, John E.; Hansson, Patrik; Ljungberg, Jessica K.

2017-01-01

An ongoing debate surrounds whether bilinguals outperform monolinguals in tests of executive processing. The aim of this study was to investigate if there are long-term (10 year) bilingual advantages in executive processing, as indexed by dual-task performance, in a sample that were 40–65 years at baseline. The bilingual (n = 24) and monolingual (n = 24) participants were matched on age, sex, education, fluid intelligence, and study sample. Participants performed free-recall for a 12-item list in three dual-task settings wherein they sorted cards either during encoding, retrieval, or during both encoding and retrieval of the word-list. Free recall without card sorting was used as a reference to compute dual-task costs. The results showed that bilinguals significantly outperformed monolinguals when they performed card-sorting during both encoding and retrieval of the word-list, the condition that presumably placed the highest demands on executive functioning. However, dual-task costs increased over time for bilinguals relative to monolinguals, a finding that is possibly influenced by retirement age and limited use of second language in the bilingual group. PMID:29281654

Exceptional lexical skills but executive language deficits in school starters and young adults with Turners syndrome: implications for X chromosome effects on brain function.

PubMed

Temple, Christine M; Shephard, Elizabeth E

2012-03-01

TS school starters had enhanced receptive and expressive language on standardised assessment (CELF-P) and enhanced rhyme judgements, spoonerisms, and lexical decision, indicating enhanced phonological skills and word representations. There was marginal but consistent advantage across lexico-semantic tasks. On executive tasks, speeded naming of numbers was impaired but not pictures. Young TS adults had enhanced naming and receptive vocabulary, indicating enhanced semantic skills. There were consistent deficits in executive language: phonemic oral fluency, rhyme fluency, speeded naming of pictures, numbers and colours; sentence completion requiring supression of prepotent responses. Haploinsufficiency of X-chromosome drives mechanisms that affect the anatomical and neurochemical development of the brain, resulting in enhanced temporal lobe aspects of language. These strengths co-exist with impaired development of frontal lobe executive language systems. This means not only that these elements of language can decouple in development but that their very independence is driven by mechanisms linked to the X-chromosome. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Studying Language Learning Opportunities Afforded by a Collaborative CALL Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leahy, Christine

2016-01-01

This research study explores the learning potential of a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) activity. Research suggests that the dual emphasis on content development and language accuracy, as well as the complexity of L2 production in natural settings, can potentially create cognitive overload. This study poses the question whether, and…

Integrating Mobile Technologies into Very Young Second Language Learners' Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadykova, Gulnara; Gimaletdinova, Gulnara; Khalitova, Liliia; Kayumova, Albina

2016-01-01

This report is based on an exploratory case study of a private multilingual preschool language program that integrated a Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) project into the curriculum of five/six year-old children whose native language(s) is/are Russian and/or Tatar. The purpose of the study was to reveal teachers' and parents' perceptions…

Love, Language, and Emergent Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zambo, Debby; Hansen, Cory Cooper

2007-01-01

How can language and literacy enhance emotional development in the very young (birth to three years)? Although all children begin to understand their world through language and social interaction, literacy differs from culture to culture. It can range from oral stories of personal and cultural relevance to songs of ethnic pride and includes a…

Brain Bases of Morphological Processing in Young Children

PubMed Central

Arredondo, Maria M.; Ip, Ka I; Hsu, Lucy Shih-Ju; Tardif, Twila; Kovelman, Ioulia

2017-01-01

How does the developing brain support the transition from spoken language to print? Two spoken language abilities form the initial base of child literacy across languages: knowledge of language sounds (phonology) and knowledge of the smallest units that carry meaning (morphology). While phonology has received much attention from the field, the brain mechanisms that support morphological competence for learning to read remain largely unknown. In the present study, young English-speaking children completed an auditory morphological awareness task behaviorally (n = 69, ages 6–12) and in fMRI (n = 16). The data revealed two findings: First, children with better morphological abilities showed greater activation in left temporo-parietal regions previously thought to be important for supporting phonological reading skills, suggesting that this region supports multiple language abilities for successful reading acquisition. Second, children showed activation in left frontal regions previously found active in young Chinese readers, suggesting morphological processes for reading acquisition might be similar across languages. These findings offer new insights for developing a comprehensive model of how spoken language abilities support children’s reading acquisition across languages. PMID:25930011

Conversations about Visual Arts: Facilitating Oral Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Ni; Cress, Susan

2014-01-01

Visual arts, such as drawings, are attractive to most young children. Marks left on paper by young children contain meaning. Although it is known that children's oral language could be enhanced through communication with adults, rarely is there a series of dialogues between adults and young children about their drawings. Often heard instead…

Dual-Language Planning at Oyster Bilingual School: "It's Much More Than Language."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, Rebecca D.

1996-01-01

Describes how Oyster Bilingual School's (Washington, DC) two-way Spanish-English language plan functions in its sociopolitical context. It is noted that this plan is part of a larger identity plan aiming to promote social change by socializing children differently from the way they are socialized in mainstream US educational discourse. (46…

Kindergarten Impacts of a Preschool Language-Focused Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johanson, Megan; Justice, Laura M.; Logan, Jessica

2016-01-01

Many preschool language-focused interventions attempt to boost language and literacy skills in young children at risk in these areas of development, though the long-term effects of such interventions are not well-established. This study investigated kindergarten language and reading skills, specifically the subcomponents of vocabulary, decoding,…

Kindergarten Impacts of a Preschool Language Focused-Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johanson, Megan; Justice, Laura M.; Logan, Jessica

2016-01-01

Many preschool language-focused interventions attempt to boost language and literacy skills in young children at risk in these areas of development, though the long-term effects of such interventions are not well-established. This study investigated kindergarten language and reading skills, specifically the subcomponents of vocabulary, decoding,…

Use of the Children's Communication Checklist-2 for classification of language impairment risk in young school-age children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Timler, Geralyn R

2014-02-01

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at elevated risk for language impairment (LI). This study examined the feasibility of using the Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2; Bishop, 2006) to classify risk for LI in young children, ages 5-8 years, with ADHD. Parents of 32 children with ADHD and 12 typically developing peers completed the CCC-2. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition (Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003) and the Test of Narrative Language (Gillam & Pearson, 2004) were administered to diagnose LI. Language samples were collected to examine clinical markers of LI. CCC-2 General Communication Composite scores ≤ 85 correctly classified 10 participants with ADHD diagnosed with LI as defined by composite scores ≤ 85 on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition, or on the Test of Narrative Language. Five of these participants demonstrated 1 or more clinical markers of LI in language samples. Three additional participants, who received a General Communication Composite score ≤ 85 yet scored above 85 on the language tests, demonstrated CCC-2 profiles suggestive of pragmatic impairment. Sensitivity and specificity rates were 100% and 85.29%, respectively. CCC-2 scores and most measures were significantly correlated. The results support the feasibility of using the CCC-2 as a screener to identify children with ADHD who are at elevated risk for LI and need referral for comprehensive assessment.

Every Language Is Special: Promoting Dual Language Learning in Multicultural Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghiso, Maria Paula

2013-01-01

The changing demographics of neighborhoods and schools require that all educators consider how to support children who are developing bilingualism and biliteracy. Research documents the importance of engaging young children in learning by drawing on community heritages and cultural and linguistic resources, and of connecting more effectively with…

Young Agricultural Workers in California.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arroyo, Michele Gonzalez; Kurre, Laura

This report examines the extent to which young people work in California agriculture and describes work-related hazards and injuries among young agricultural workers. Data were gathered through a literature review; discussion groups with parents, community groups, and English-as-a-second-language students in the San Joaquin Valley; surveys of 295…

Language Codes and Memory Codes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liberman, Alvin M.; And Others

Paraphrase, as it reflects the processes of remembering rather than those of forgetting, implies that language is best transmitted in one form and stored in another. The dual representation of linguistic information that is implied by paraphrase is important for storing information that has been received and for transmitting information that has…

Dual protection: more needed than practised or understood.

PubMed

Berer, Marge

2006-11-01

Although non-barrier contraceptive use has become a global norm, unprotected sex in relation to sexually transmitted infections remains the norm almost everywhere. Dual protection is protection from unwanted pregnancy, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and is a form of safer sex for heterosexual couples that is more needed than practised or understood. This paper draws on a review of the literature in family planning, obstetrics and gynaecology, and AIDS-related journals from 1998 to early 2005. Definitions of dual protection, found mainly in family planning literature, are very narrow. Condoms remain the mainstay of dual protection, but the aim of this paper is to provide an expanded list of dual protection methods to show that there is a range of options. These include non-penetrative sex and the increasing use of condoms with the back-up of emergency contraception on the part of young people. The fact that people may fail to use dual protection consistently and correctly is not a valid reason not to promote it. It is never too late for those providing family planning and STI/HIV prevention services to start promoting condoms and dual protection. In the long-term, the development of highly efficacious and highly acceptable methods of dual protection is an urgent research priority, starting with a wider range of condoms that will appeal to more people.

Dual Career Couples: Helping Them Have It All.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chambliss, Catherine; Hartl, Alan

The recent acceleration of mothers' participation in the workplace has transformed the lives of millions of wives, husbands, and children, and has created an urgent need for strategies to assist families with two working parents. Dual career couples, especially those with young children, frequently feel overwhelmed by their lifestyle. The external…

The Dual System of Vocational Training in Germany. BASIS-INFO 11-1995. Social Policy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraemer, Dagmar

The dual system of vocational training is a joint government-industry program and part of the general educational system in Germany. It provides hands-on training in private businesses coupled with specialized instruction in public vocational schools at no cost to students. The objective of the dual system is to provide young people with the best…

The neural architecture of age-related dual-task interferences.

PubMed

Chmielewski, Witold X; Yildiz, Ali; Beste, Christian

2014-01-01

In daily life elderly adults exhibit deficits when dual-tasking is involved. So far these deficits have been verified on a behavioral level in dual-tasking. Yet, the neuronal architecture of these deficits in aging still remains to be explored especially when late-middle aged individuals around 60 years of age are concerned. Neuroimaging studies in young participants concerning dual-tasking were, among others, related to activity in middle frontal (MFG) and superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and the anterior insula (AI). According to the frontal lobe hypothesis of aging, alterations in these frontal regions (i.e., SFG and MFG) might be responsible for cognitive deficits. We measured brain activity using fMRI, while examining age-dependent variations in dual-tasking by utilizing the PRP (psychological refractory period) test. Behavioral data showed an increasing PRP effect in late-middle aged adults. The results suggest the age-related deteriorated performance in dual-tasking, especially in conditions of risen complexity. These effects are related to changes in networks involving the AI, the SFG and the MFG. The results suggest that different cognitive subprocesses are affected that mediate the observed dual-tasking problems in late-middle aged individuals.

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…

DLLs and the Development of Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guirguis, Ruth; Antigua, Kathy Carolina

2017-01-01

Current literature and research demonstrates that learning multiple languages allows for young learners to develop higher levels of executive functioning skills. Research also suggests that Dual Language Learners (DLLs) can surpass monolinguals in these executive functioning skills. Yet, there is a dearth of literature that explicitly discusses…

Restorative Justice conferencing and the youth offender: exploring the role of oral language competence.

PubMed

Snow, Pamela C; Sanger, Dixie D

2011-01-01

Restorative Justice is an approach to responding to youth offending that aims to be collaborative and conciliatory rather than adversarial. In this respect, it is a welcome innovation in justice, welfare, and educational settings, and is gaining favour around the world. To date, however, the Restorative Justice literature has not considered the possible implications of unidentified language impairment in the young offenders who are asked to participate in face-to-face conferences with their victim(s). The aims of this paper are (1) to bring two paradigms together: Restorative Justice on the one hand, and the literature on language and social cognition impairments in vulnerable and socially marginalized young people on the other; (2) to stimulate awareness and interest in this aspect of public policy and practice by speech-language pathologists; and (3) to suggest some research questions that need to be tackled from an oral language competence perspective. A narrative review of the relevant literature pertaining to both Restorative Justice and oral language competence in vulnerable young people was conducted, with particular emphasis on the implications of the undetected language impairments as a source of possible unintended harm to both victims and offenders in Restorative Justice conferences. This is the first paper that specifically addresses the oral language skills of vulnerable and socially marginalized young people with respect to their capacity to participate in Restorative Justice conferences. It is important that speech-language pathologists contribute their specialized knowledge and clinical skills to public policy-making and debate, and practice that pertains to marginalized young people who may have undetected oral language impairments. Speech-language pathology as a profession is well positioned to plan and execute important programmes of research on this growing approach to dealing with youth offending and reducing recidivism. © 2010 Royal College

Activities Manual for Florida Language Profile.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saint Lucie County Public Schools, Ft. Pierce, FL.

The manual contains suggested activities to develop the language skills assessed by the Florida Language Profile, a screening instrument to help identify young learning disabled children. Three to ten activities are listed for each of the following categories: body parts; right and left; rote counting, naming and identifying numbers, and counting…

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…

Voices from Angola = Vozes de Angola. African Voices Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warner, Rachel, Ed.

This dual-language (Portuguese and English) collection of autobiographical writing by refugees from Angolan children and young adults living in Britain is illustrated with photographs and children's drawings and includes comprehensive country introductions. In the collection, young people give their accounts of migration and explore how their…

Improving Communication Outcomes for Young Offenders: A Proposed Response to Intervention Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, Pamela C.; Sanger, Dixie D.; Caire, Laura M.; Eadie, Patricia A.; Dinslage, Teagan

2015-01-01

Background: Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) are strongly overrepresented in young offender populations, and there is growing commitment internationally to ensuring access to speech-language therapy services for such young people. However there is currently no framework in which such interventions might be conceptualized, delivered…

[Assessing and measuring language development in the child. The Reynell Scales in a Dutch language area].

PubMed

Schaerlaekens, A

1995-01-01

This article deals with the recent adaptation of the Reynell Developmental Language Scales to the Dutch language. The existing language tests for the Dutch language are reviewed and the need to adapt a test for young children, measuring both receptive and expressive language development, is argued. The adaptation of the original Reynell Developmental Language Scales to the Dutch language is described. An extensive standardisation was carried out with 1,288 Dutch-speaking children, carefully selected geographically and according to socio-economic status. The psychodiagnostic results of the standardisation are discussed. As a result there are now norms for children between 2 and 5 years, both for receptive and expressive language development. The adaptation of the original Reynell Scales to Dutch functions under the new name RTOS (Reynell Taalontwikkelingsschalen).

The Effect of Formative Assessments on Language Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radford, Brian W.

2014-01-01

This study sought to improve the language learning outcomes at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. Young men and women between the ages of 19-24 are taught a foreign language in an accelerated environment. In an effort to improve learning outcomes, computer-based practice and teaching of language performance criteria were provided to…

A Survey on Language Use, Attitudes, and Identity in Relation to Philippine English among Young Generation Filipinos: An Initial Sample from a Private University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borlongan, Ariane Macalinga

2009-01-01

This study looks at the language use, attitudes, and identity in relation to Philippine English among young generation Filipinos through a questionnaire survey of a selected group of students from a Philippine private university. The survey findings would reveal that most domains of use and verbal activities are dominated by English as the…

Get Networked and Spy Your Languages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rico, Mercedes; Ferreira, Paula; Dominguez, Eva M.; Coppens, Julian

2012-01-01

Our proposal describes ISPY, a multilateral European K2 language project based on the development of an Online Networking Platform for Language Learning (http://www.ispy-project.com/). Supported by the Lifelong Learning European Programme, the platform aims to help young adults across Europe, secondary and vocational school programs, learn a new…

Age-related differences in dual task performance: A cross-sectional study on women.

PubMed

Brustio, Paolo R; Magistro, Daniele; Rabaglietti, Emanuela; Liubicich, Monica E

2017-02-01

Simultaneous performances of motor and attention-demanding tasks are common in activities of everyday life. The present cross-sectional study examined the changes and age-related differences on mobility performance with an additional cognitive or motor task, and evaluated the relative dual-task cost (DTC) on the motor performance in young, middle-aged and older women. A total of 30 young (mean age 25.12 ± 3.00 years), 30 middle-aged (mean age 47.82 ± 5.06 years) and 30 older women (mean age 72.74 ± 5.95 years) were recruited. Participants carried out: (i) single task: Timed Up & Go Test; (ii) cognitive dual-task: Timed Up & Go Test while counting backwards by three; (iii) manual dual-task: Timed Up & Go Test while carrying a glass of water. A repeated measures anova with between-factor as age groups and within-factor as tasks was carried out to assess the effect of aging on the performance of mobility tasks. DTC was calculated as ([performance in single-task - performance in dual-task] / performance in single task) × 100%. One-way ancova were carried out to compare the DTC among the three age groups. A significant interaction between age groups and task (F 4,172  = 6.716, P < 0.001, partial η 2  = 0.135) was observed. Specifically, older women showed a worse mobility performance under dual-task condition compared with young and middle-aged groups. Furthermore, DTC differences in cognitive task were observed in older women compared with younger and middle-aged women (F 2,86  = 7.649, P < 0.001, partial η 2  = 0.151), but not in manual task. Dual-task conditions might affect mobility performance differently across the lifespan, and could be particularly challenging in older women. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 315-321. © 2015 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Real-time lexical comprehension in young children learning American Sign Language.

PubMed

MacDonald, Kyle; LaMarr, Todd; Corina, David; Marchman, Virginia A; Fernald, Anne

2018-04-16

When children interpret spoken language in real time, linguistic information drives rapid shifts in visual attention to objects in the visual world. This language-vision interaction can provide insights into children's developing efficiency in language comprehension. But how does language influence visual attention when the linguistic signal and the visual world are both processed via the visual channel? Here, we measured eye movements during real-time comprehension of a visual-manual language, American Sign Language (ASL), by 29 native ASL-learning children (16-53 mos, 16 deaf, 13 hearing) and 16 fluent deaf adult signers. All signers showed evidence of rapid, incremental language comprehension, tending to initiate an eye movement before sign offset. Deaf and hearing ASL-learners showed similar gaze patterns, suggesting that the in-the-moment dynamics of eye movements during ASL processing are shaped by the constraints of processing a visual language in real time and not by differential access to auditory information in day-to-day life. Finally, variation in children's ASL processing was positively correlated with age and vocabulary size. Thus, despite competition for attention within a single modality, the timing and accuracy of visual fixations during ASL comprehension reflect information processing skills that are important for language acquisition regardless of language modality. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Intertwining Lexical and Conceptual Learning Trajectories--A Design Research Study on Dual Macro-Scaffolding towards Percentages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pöhler, Birte; Prediger, Susanne

2015-01-01

Monolingual or multilingual students with low academic language proficiency need to acquire conceptual understanding for percentages and the language to communicate about them. The design research study explores how these two learning goals can be fostered by a macro-scaffolding approach for seventh grade students. The dual hypothetical learning…

Socially situated activities and identities: Second-grade dual language students and the social construction of science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryce, Nadine

Latina and Latino American students are among the lowest achievers in science, when compared to European and Asian American students, and are highly underrepresented in science careers. Studies suggested that a part of this problem is students' lack of access to science, due to their status as English language learners and their perceived status as deficient students. This study investigated the social construction of science in a second grade dual language urban classroom that offered bilingual students access to science, while positioning them as competent, capable learners. What participants valued in science was interpreted from their stated beliefs and attitudes, as well as their patterned ways of reading, writing, and talking. A bilingual European American teacher and three Latina and Latino focal students were observed over the course of 10 weeks, as they enacted a science unit, in English, on habitats. Science lessons were videotaped, documented with field notes, and transcribed. Interviews with the teacher and students were audiotaped and transcribed, and relevant curriculum documents, and teacher- and student-generated documents, copied. Gee's (1999) d/Discourse analysis system was applied to the transcripts of science lessons and interviews as a way to understand how participants used language to construct situated activities and identities in science. Curriculum documents were analyzed to understand the positioning of the teacher and students by identifying the situated activities and roles recommended. Students' nonfiction writing and published nonfiction texts were analyzed for linguistic structures, semantic relationships and conventions of science writing. Results indicated that the teacher drew on traditional and progressive pedagogical practices that shaped her and her students' science activities and situated identities. The teacher employed traditional talk strategies to build science themes, while students enacted their roles as compliant

Identity and the Young English Language Learner. Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, Elaine Mellen

This ethnographic case study examines the language socialization experiences of Hari, a Punjabi-speaking English language learner integrated into a mainstream kindergarten classroom in an urban area of British Columbia, Canada. The book begins by discussing theory and literature (e.g., mainstream second language acquisition research, language as…

Young Peoples' Representations of "Atypical" Work in English Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crafter, Sarah; O'Dell, Lindsay; de Abreu, Guida; Cline, Tony

2009-01-01

In this paper, we explore young peoples' normative representations of work. In particular, we are interested in the ways young people view work roles which could be considered "atypical" such as young caring or language brokering. Interviewed were 46 young people (15-18 years) some who did, and some who did not engage in the…

Brain metabolite levels and language abilities in preschool children.

PubMed

Lebel, Catherine; MacMaster, Frank P; Dewey, Deborah

2016-10-01

Language acquisition occurs rapidly during early childhood and lays the foundation for future reading success. However, little is known about the brain-language relationships in young children. The goal of this study was to investigate relationships between brain metabolites and prereading language abilities in healthy preschool-aged children. Participants were 67 healthy children aged 3.0-5.4 years scanned on a 3T GE MR750w MRI scanner using short echo proton spectroscopy with a voxel placed in the anterior cingulate gyrus ( n  = 56) and/or near the left angular gyrus ( n  = 45). Children completed the NEPSY-II Phonological Processing and Speeded Naming subtests at the same time as their MRI scan. We calculated glutamate, glutamine, creatine/phosphocreatine, choline, inositol, and NAA concentrations, and correlated these with language skills. In the anterior cingulate, Phonological Processing Scaled Scores were significantly correlated with glutamate, creatine, and inositol concentrations. In the left angular gyrus, Speeded Naming Combined Scaled Scores showed trend correlations with choline and glutamine concentrations. For the first time, we demonstrate relationships between brain metabolites and prereading language abilities in young children. Our results show relationships between language and inositol and glutamate that may reflect glial differences underlying language function, and a relationship of language with creatine. The trend between Speeded Naming and choline is consistent with previous research in older children and adults; however, larger sample sizes are needed to confirm whether this relationship is indeed significant in young children. These findings help understand the brain basis of language, and may ultimately lead to earlier and more effective interventions for reading disabilities.

Predicting writing development in dual language instructional contexts: exploring cross-linguistic relationships.

PubMed

Savage, Robert; Kozakewich, Meagan; Genesee, Fred; Erdos, Caroline; Haigh, Corinne

2017-01-01

This study examined whether decoding and linguistic comprehension abilities, broadly defined by the Simple View of Reading, in grade 1 each uniquely predicted the grade 6 writing performance of English-speaking children (n = 76) who were educated bilingually in both English their first language and French, a second language. Prediction was made from (1) English to English; (2) French to French; and (3) English to French. Results showed that both decoding and linguistic comprehension scores predicted writing accuracy but rarely predicted persuasive writing. Within the linguistic comprehension cluster of tests, Formulating Sentences was a strong consistent within- and between-language predictor of writing accuracy. In practical terms, the present results indicate that early screening for later writing ability using measures of sentence formulation early in students' schooling, in their L1 or L2, can provide greatest predictive power and allow teachers to differentiate instruction in the primary grades. Theoretically, the present results argue that there are correlations between reading-related abilities and writing abilities not only within the same language but also across languages, adding to the growing body of evidence for facilitative cross-linguistic relationships between bilinguals' developing languages. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Pathways to Bilingualism: Young Children's Home Experiences Learning English and Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, M. Victoria

2010-01-01

Nowadays, more and more young children in the United States have the experience of speaking a language other than English at home, and many parents choose to educate their children bilingually. This study explored the home-language experiences, in English and Spanish, of three young Latino girls ages 15 months, 16 months, and 30 months,…

Connecting the Canon to Current Young Adult Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rybakova, Katie; Roccanti, Rikki

2016-01-01

In this article we discuss the respective roles of young adult literature and literary texts in the secondary level English Language Arts classroom and explore the connections that can be made between popular young adult books and the traditional canon. We provide examples showing how young adult literature bestsellers such as "The Book…

Young Child.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeVoogd, Glenn, Ed.

This document contains the following papers focusing on contexts and activities in which teachers can use technology to promote learning with young children: (1) "Read, Write and Click: Using Digital Camera Technology in a Language Arts and Literacy K-5 Classroom" (Judith F. Robbins and Jacqueline Bedell); (2) "Technology for the…

Not Just Good Science Teaching: Supporting Academic Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silva, Cecilia; Weinburgh, Molly; Smith, Kathy Horak

2013-01-01

In this article, the authors explore ways in which they have worked together in understanding the complexities of academic language within the science classroom and discuss strategies they have used to teach academic language to young adolescent English Language Learners (ELLs) within inquiry-based science lessons. They discuss strategies they use…

Social Stress in Young People with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wadman, Ruth; Durkin, Kevin; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

2011-01-01

Social interactions can be a source of social stress for adolescents. Little is known about how adolescents with developmental difficulties, such as specific language impairment (SLI), feel when interacting socially. Participants included 28 adolescents with SLI and 28 adolescents with typical language abilities (TL). Self-report measures of…

Bilingual Language Development and Disorders in Spanish-English Speakers. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldstein, Brian A., Ed.

2012-01-01

Because dual language learners are the fastest--growing segment of the U.S. student population--and the majority speak Spanish as a first language--the new generation of SLPs must have comprehensive knowledge of how to work effectively with bilingual speakers. That's what they'll get in the second edition of this book, an ideal graduate-level text…

Translanguaging in an Infant Classroom: Using Multiple Languages to Make Meaning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garrity, Sarah; Aquino-Sterling, Cristian R.; Day, Ashley

2015-01-01

Numerous theories of development position infants as inherently driven to make sense of the world around them, and the acquisition of language is a fundamental developmental milestone of this period. The purpose of this study was to document the first year of implementation of a Spanish/English dual language program in an infant classroom, using a…

Comparing Dual-Language Versions of an International Computerized-Adaptive Certification Exam.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sireci, Stephen G.; Foster, David F.; Robin, Frederic; Olsen, James

Evaluating the comparability of a test administered in different languages is a difficult, if not impossible, task. Comparisons are problematic because observed differences in test performance between groups who take different language versions of a test could be due to a difference in difficulty between the tests, to cultural differences in test…

The Influence of Deaf People's Dual Category Status on Sign Language Planning: The British Sign Language (Scotland) Act (2015)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Meulder, Maartje

2017-01-01

Through the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act, British Sign Language (BSL) was given legal status in Scotland. The main motives for the Act were a desire to put BSL on a similar footing with Gaelic and the fact that in Scotland, BSL signers are the only group whose first language is not English who must rely on disability discrimination…

Stories That Sing: Stimulating Oral Language in Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huffine, Karen; Ellis, DiAnn

Research indicates the importance of the relationship between music, adult/child interaction, language practice, rhythm, repetition, familiarity of content, and story time, and a child's oral language development. Folk songs that have been illustrated and put into book form--"stories that sing"--can be used by parents and teachers to…

Cross-Language Activation of Phonology in Young Bilingual Readers