A Developmental Framework For Linking Phonological And Morpho-syntactic Sequential Pattern Rules In Developmental Language Disorder: Production
Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
Summary
The broad aim of this clinical study is to assess the hypothesis that morphological and phonological deficits are linked by a broader deficit in sequential pattern learning. This hypothesis applies to learning in general, but is especially critical as an avenue for developing earlier assessments and more powerful interventions for children with developmental language disorder (DLD; also known as specific language impairment). Other populations, such as at-risk toddlers, may also benefit from this new approach.
Description
The developmental approach taken here combines what is already known about morpho-syntactic deficits in DLD with recent developments in the fields of linguistics and language acquisition. First, it is possible to divide phonological and morphological patterns into three pattern types (Single Feature, OR/Disjunction, Family Resemblance/Prototype), with these types having a long history of study in visual pattern learning. Importantly, children with DLD appear to have maximum difficulty with morpho-syntactic patterns of the OR type (e.g., regular past tense; add a "t" if the final consonant is v…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 4–8 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: Because clinical precision is required, 4- to 8-year-olds will complete a large test battery. * All children (TD, DLD, DLD + SSD, SSD) will score above 75 on the Nonverbal Scale of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC-II), which is above the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual cut-off for intellectual disability, even considering the standard error of measurement. * Hearing will be within normal limits * Oral structures will be within normal limits (Robbins \& Klee, 1987). * The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (Schopler et al., 2010) and parent report, will be us…
Interventions
- OtherSensitivity to phonological rules
Assess whether children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are sensitive to different phonological patterns that are predicted to align with development of morphosyntax or the lexicon; children with speech sound disorder (SSD) are not predicted to be sensitive to the same phonological patterns.
- OtherSensitivity to semantic category cues.
Assess whether all children, including those with DLD, show improved learning of OR rules when a semantic category cue is used.
Locations (2)
- University of ArizonaTucson, Arizona
- Boys Town National Research HospitalOmaha, Nebraska