Language Delays & Disorders Etiology

Speech & Language Delays & Disorders

Etiology

Bourassa, D. C., & Treiman, R. (2001). Spelling development and disability: The importance of linguistic factors. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 32, 172-181.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Components of language that
influence spelling skills

Factors of spelling disabilities

Characteristics of Review
Population	Children learning to spell
Review Type	Narrative
Country	Canada
Number of studies	72 referenced

This article reviews the literature on normal and impaired spelling development in English. Once children begin to learn that the function of alphabet writing is to represent the sounds of language they go through the process of learning sound-spelling correspondences in increasingly fine detail. Continued experience with print allows children to learn about orthographic and morphological conventions of the language. Within this general framework the authors describe research that underscores the importance of the fine-grained linguistic analyses of spelling performance. It is concluded that such an approach holds a great deal of promise for theory and practice. (Journal Abstract).

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Ekins, E., & Schneider, P. (2006). Predicting reading abilities from oral language skills: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, 30, 26-36.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Predictive power of phonological
   awareness, rapid automatized
   naming, & expressive & receptive
   language

Tables of standardized & non-
standardized assessments

Characteristics of Review
Population	Differing oral language skills
Review Type	Narrative
Country	Canada
Number of studies	13 included

The early identification of children who may be at risk for reading difficulty is important so that intervention can be provided early and subsequent reading problems can be avoided. Traditionally children with reading problems are identified after reading instruction has begun. However, knowledge of oral language skills that predict reading abilities is necessary to identify children who may be at risk for later reading problems.
This document discusses research literature documenting oral language measures that may predict lower level (decoding) and high lever (comprehension) reading abilities as well as reader-group membership. The predictive ability of expressive language, receptive language, Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), and phonological awareness are discussed.
The research results indicate that some oral language measures predict reading achievement. Although standardized measures of expressive language account for some variance in lower level reading, phonological awareness and RAN account for more. Standardized measures of expressive and receptive language predict reading comprehension in Grade 2. RAN tasks predict lower level reading and reader-group membership. Various combinations of syllable and phoneme deletion, syllable and phoneme blending, and rhyme detection predict lower level reading achievement, reading comprehension, or reader-group membership. The research information reviewed here can help guide future investigations in the area of predicting reading abilities. (Journal Abstract).

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Glennen, S. (2002). Language development and delay in internationally adopted infants and toddlers: A review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11, 333-339.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Delineates language learning, &
communication disorders

Effects of orphanage care

Characteristics of Review
Population	Internationally adopted children
Review Type	Narrative
Country	USA
Number of studies	49 referenced

When children change cultures through adoption, they experience a transition from a birth first language to a new adoptive first language. Because adoptive families rarely speak the birth language, use of that language arrests at the time of adoption and undergoes attrition while the child learns the new adopted language. During this process, internationally adopted children have limited abilities in both languages. This makes it difficult to determine which children require speech and language services, and which will learn the new language spontaneously over time. This article reviews information on arrested language development in bilingual children and applies it to the internationally adopted child. The influence of cross-linguistic patterns of transfer and interference in infants and toddlers is explored, along with the medical and developmental risks associated with children adopted from orphanages. The primary goal of this article is to help professionals understand post-adoption language learning issues affecting internationally adopted children, as well as the impact of preadoption history on those developmental processes. (Journal Abstract).

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Hill, E. L. (2001). Non-specific nature of specific language impairment: A review of the literature with regard to concomitant motor impairments. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 36, 149-171.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Reviews various motor deficits

Assessment of motor difficulties

Characteristics of Review
Population	Specific language impairments
Review Type	Narrative
Country	United Kingdom
Number of studies	28 included

In light of the emerging suggestions that language and motor deficits may co-occur, the literature on specific language impairment (SLI) was reviewed to investigate the prevalence of co-morbidity between SLI and poor limb motor skill in children diagnosed with language impairments. An extensive literature search was undertaken and the subsequent findings evaluated with particular reference to issues surrounding symptom co-occurrence, as well as to theoretical and aetiological accounts of SLI. Clearly substantial co-morbidity exists between SLI and poor motor skills, suggesting that SLI is not a specific disorder of language, but rather that children with SLI experience a broader range of difficulties, of which motor incoordination is one. Current theoretical explanations of SLI do not account fully for such wide-ranging difficulties and it may be useful in the future to focus on a more detailed explanation in terms of shared cognitive processes or neuromaturational delay to understand further the nature of the disorder, to explain it theoretically and to deal with it practically. (Journal Abstract).

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Kehoe, M. M. (2001). Prosodic patterns in children's multisyllabic word productions. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 32, 284-294.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Prosodic processes in multi-syllabic
words

Syllable deletion & prosodic errors

Implications for evaluations in
clinical practice

Characteristics of Review
Population	Young children
Review Type	Narrative
Country	Germany
Number of studies	44 referenced

This paper reviews results from a series of studies that examined the influence of metrical and segmental effects on English-speaking children’s multisyllabic word productions. Three different approaches (prosodic structure, trochaic template, and perceptual salience) that have been proposed in the literature to account for children’s prosodic patterns are presented and evaluated. An analysis of children’s truncation or syllable deletion patterns revealed the following robust findings: (a) Stressed and word-final unstressed syllables are preserved more frequently than nonfinal unstressed syllables, (b) word-internal unstressed syllables with obstruent onsets are preserved more frequently than word-internal syllables with sonorant onsets, (c) unstressed syllables with non-reduced vowels are preserved more frequently than unstressed syllables with reduced vowels, and (d) right-sided stressed syllables are preserved more frequently than left-sided stressed syllables. An analysis of children’s stress patterns revealed that children made greater numbers of stress errors in target words with irregular stress. Clinical implications of these findings are presented and additional studies that have applied a metrical approach to clinical populations are described. (Journal Abstract).

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Law, J., Boyle, J., Harris, F., Harkness, A., & Nye, C. (2000). Prevalence and natural history of primary speech and language delay: Findings from a systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 35, 165-188.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Prevalence & natural history of
speech & language delay

Resources for calculating
prevalence

Characteristics of Review
Population	Primary speech & language delays
Review Type	Systematic
Country	United Kingdom
Number of studies	39 included

The prevalence and the natural history of primary speech and language delays were two of four domains covered in a systematic review of the literature related to screening for speech and language delay carried out for the NHS in the UK. The structure and process of the full literature review is introduced and criteria for inclusion in the two domains are specified. The resulting data set gave 16 prevalence estimates generated from 21 publications and 12 natural history studies generated from 18 publications. Results are summarized for six subdivisions of primary speech and language delays: (1) speech and / or language, (2) language only, (3) speech only, (4) expression with comprehension, (5) expression only and (6) comprehension only. Combination of the data suggests that both concurrent and predictive case definition can be problematic. Prediction improves if language is taken independently of speech and if expressive and receptive language are taken together. The results are discussed in terms of the need to develop a model of prevalence based on risk of subsequent difficulties. (Journal Abstract).

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Laws, G., & Bishop, D. V. M. (2004). Verbal deficits in Down's syndrome and specific language impairment: A comparison. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 39, 423-451.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Comparisons of language use &
language difficulties

Comparison of SLI & Down's
Syndrome

Characteristics of Review
Population	Down's Syndrome
Review Type	Narrative
Country	United Kingdom
Number of studies	220 referenced

Background: Down’s syndrome is a chromosome disorder characterized by a range of physical and psychological conditions, including language impairment. The severity of impairment is variable, and some components of the language system appear to be more affected than others. This description could also be applied to typically developing children diagnosed with specific language impairment.
Aims: To compare findings from the largely separate research literature on these conditions, and to address the questions about whether the language pathology associated with Down’s syndrome could be the same as that described as specific language impairment in typical development, and whether the two conditions could have similar causes.
Main Contribution: Research studies suggest similar patterns of language impairment in the two populations, and some similarities in the underlying processing deficits.
Conclusions: Future research should consider whether similarities in the language behaviours associated with Down’s syndrome and specific language impairment could be related to similarities at other levels of analysis, including neurological development and genetics. (Journal Abstract).

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McLeod, S., Doorn, J., & Reed, V. A. (2001). Normal acquisition of consonant clusters. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10, 99-110.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

10 features of normal development
of consonant clusters

Stages of consonant cluster
acquisition

Characteristics of Review
Population	Normally developing & language impaired
Review Type	Narrative
Country	Australia
Number of studies	8 included

Children’s acquisition of adult-like speech production has fascinated speech-language pathologists for over a century, and data gained from associated research have informed every aspect of speech-language pathology practice. The acquisition of the consonant cluster has received little attention during this time, even though the consonant cluster is a common feature of speech, its acquisition is one of the most protracted of all aspects of children’s speech development, and the production of consonant clusters is one of the most common difficulties for children with speech impairment. This paper reviews the literature from the past 70 years to describe children’s normal acquisition of consonant clusters. Articulatory, phonological, linguistic, and acoustic approaches to the development of consonant clusters are reviewed. Data from English are supplemented with examples from other languages. Consideration of the information on consonant cluster development revealed 10 aspects of normal development that can be used in speech-language pathologists’ assessment and analysis of children’s speech. (Journal Abstract).

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Messer, D., & Dockrell, J. E. (2006). Children's naming and word-finding difficulties: Descriptions and explanations. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 309-325.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Standardized & non-standardized
assessments of word-finding
difficulties

Language deficits & word-finding
difficulties

Characteristics of Review
Population	Word-finding difficulties
Review Type	Narrative
Country	United Kingdom
Number of studies	120 referenced

Purpose: There is a substantial minority of children for whom lexical retrieval problems impede the normal pattern of language development and use. These problems include accurately producing the correct word even when the word’s meaning is understood. Such problems are often referred to as word-finding difficulties (WFDs). This article examines the nature of naming and lexical retrieval difficulties in these and other groups of children.
Method: A review of the relevant literature on lexical access difficulties in children with word-finding difficulties was conducted. Studies were examined in the terms of population parameters and comparison groups included in the study. Results and Conclusions: Most discussions of the cognitive processes causing lexical retrieval difficulties refer to semantics, phonology, and processing speed. The authors propose that understanding of these topics will be further advanced by the use of appropriate methodology to test developmental models. In this way it will be possible to identify the processes that contribute to successful lexical retrieval and the processes that result in retrieval difficulties. (Journal Abstract).

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Montgomery, J. W. (2002). Understanding the language difficulties of children with specific language impairments: Does verbal working memory matter? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11, 77-91.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Comparisons of typical & nontypical
verbal working memory & language
development

Suggestions for assessment &
intervention

Characteristics of Review
Population	Specific language impairments
Review Type	Narrative
Country	USA
Number of studies	74 referenced

Many children with specific language impairment (SLI) demonstrate deficits in both verbal working memory (VWM) and language. Among child language researchers, the debate continues whether these two deficits are related. In this article, I take the position that there is indeed a connection between SLI and VWM. I review evidence suggesting that the lexical/morphological learning and sentence comprehension problems of many of these children are associated with deficient VWM abilities. Evidence is also reviewed for the possibility that deficient VWM provides a clinical marker of SLI. I end by offering various assessment and intervention techniques that may prove useful in SLI. (Journal Abstract).

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Montgomery, J. W. (2003). Working memory and comprehension in children with specific language impairment: What we know so far. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36, 221-231.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Delineates language & working
memory

Assessment & intervention to
identify & improve verbal working
memory

Characteristics of Review
Population	Specific language impairments
Review Type	Narrative
Country	USA
Number of studies	36 referenced

Many children with specific language impairments (SLI) demonstrate deficits in the areas of verbal working memory and language learning/processing. In this article, evidence is reviewed suggesting that the lexical/morphological learning and sentence comprehension/processing problems of many of these children are associated with their deficient working memory functioning. Evidence is also reviewed for the possibility that deficient working memory provides a clinical marker of SLI. A number of potentially useful assessment and intervention techniques are offered, as well as several directions for future research.
Learning outcomes: The reader will be introduced to two prominent models of verbal working memory (phonological working memory model, functional working memory) and how each model potentially relates to (a) various language abilities in typically developing children, (b) the morphological and lexical learning abilities in children with specific language impairment (SLI), and (c) the sentence comprehension of children with SLI. The reader will also be provided with a variety of clinical suggestions on how to assess and treat the working memory and language processing problems of children with SLI. Finally, some suggestions for future research will also be offered. (Journal Abstract).

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Nittrouer, S. (2002). From ear to cortex: A perspective on what clinicians need to understand about speech perception and language processing. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 33, 237-252.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Description of phonological
structures learning

Developmental changes in
phonological processing

Implications for assessment &
intervention

Characteristics of Review
Population	Language learning difficulties
Review Type	Narrative
Country	USA
Number of studies	71 referenced

Phoneme-sized phonetic segments are often defined as the most basic unit of language organization. Two common inferences made from this description are that there are clear correlates to phonetic segments in the acoustic speech stream, and that humans have access to these segments from birth. In fact, well-replicated studies have shown that the acoustic signal of speech lacks invariant physical correlates to phonetic segments, and that the ability to recognize segmental structure is not present from the start of language learning. Instead, the young child must learn how to process the complex, generally continuous acoustic speech signal so that phonetic structure can be derived. This paper describes and reviews experiments that have revealed developmental changes in speech perception that accompany improvements in access to phonetic structure. In addition, this paper explains how these perceptual changes appear to be related to other aspects of language development, such as syntactic abilities and reading. Finally, evidence is provided that these critical developmental changes result from adequate language experience in naturalistic contexts, and accordingly suggests that intervention strategies for children with language learning problems should focus on enhancing language experience in natural contexts. (Journal Abstract).

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Schuele, C. M. (2001). Socioeconomic influences on children's language acquisition. Journal of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, 25, 77-88.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Language outcomes low-SES
families

Role of the SLP in promoting
language development

Characteristics of Review
Population	Families with varying income levels
Review Type	Narrative
Country	USA
Number of studies	47 referenced

Decreased language ability has been implicated as a factor in the lower academic achievement of children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) families as compared to children from middle or more advantaged socioeconomic families. Although for most children this decreased language ability does not result in a clinical diagnosis of language impairment, a need for specialized language intervention is apparent. This intervention is aimed at facilitating language growth so as to lessen the risk these children have for academic underachievement. Speech-language pathologists generally have not been part of these intervention efforts with lower SES children. In this paper, research on SES and language acquisition is reviewed and the role of SLPs in optimizing language outcomes for all children is discussed. (Journal Abstract).

Sirianni, J. P. (2004). Psychological stress and language processing in school-aged children. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 28, 112-121.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Relationships between psychological
stress, memory, & language
processing

Clinical implications for SLPs working
in schools

Characteristics of Review
Population	Psychologically stressed
Review Type	Narrative
Country	Canada
Number of studies	62 referenced

In this review article, the contribution of psychological stress to language-processing difficulties is discussed and applied to the demands of the school setting. Specifically, processing efficiency theory contends that worries have an effect on the working memory system and thus influence task efficiency: both phonological loop capacity and central executive resource utilization become impaired. In addition, research linking the physiological events of psychological stress to disruption of the hippocampal memory system is examined. The hippocampal memory system is responsible for the formation of declarative memories, principally semantic and episodic memories. It is suggested that psychological stress can lead to semantic disorganization and ultimately word-retrieval difficulties. Suggestions for intervention, assessment, and future directions are also outlined. (Journal Abstract).

Velleman, S. L., & Vihman, M. M. (2002). Whole-word phonology and templates: Trap, bootstrap, or some of each? Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Special Issue: Recent Advances in Phonological Theory and Treatment, 33, 9-23.

Usefulness to Clinical Practice

Implicit vs. explicit learning of
phonological structures

Implications of disordered phonology

Characteristics of Review
Population	Children
Review Type	Narrative
Country	USA
Number of studies	103 referenced

Advances in psycholinguistics have identified cognitive mechanisms that may account for the phenomena of whole-world phonology and phonological templates in normally developing children. Deficits in these same mechanisms may also account for certain types of disordered phonologies. In this paper these cognitive mechanisms are described, strategies for identifying whole-word phonological patterns in normal and disordered phonologies are proposed, and intervention strategies that draw on these same mechanisms as a way to overcome their inappropriate persistence are recommended. (Journal Abstract).

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