Language Theory and Development: A Review

In this class, I will be using information from Karanth, Roseberry-McKibbin, & James, 2017** This is a series of early intervention manuals (0-6 years old) for children with impairments such as LI, sensory processing disorder, autism spectrum disorder, etc. The manuals address the areas of fine and gross motor skills, activities of daily living, social skills, overall language skills, and cognitive skills

There are suggestions for clinicians and caregivers…** The focus is on using common, daily household activities and items to help at-risk children become prepared for school Originally used in India, Asia, and the Middle East, we are now bringing the series to a Western audience in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand Hopefully the series will be out in 1/17

PowerPoint Outline I. Review of Theories – A. Cognitive Theory (Piaget) – B. Social Interactionism (Vygotsky) II. Review of Relationship of SSD to SLI III. Review of Typical Developmental Milestones A. Infant B. Toddler C. Preschool

Before we dive in, always remember the Big 5 in language:** Syntax Morphology Phonology Semantics Pragmatics

A. Cognitive Theory** – Jean Piaget – Emphasizes cognition, or knowledge and mental processes – Language acquisition is made possible by cognition and general intellectual processes – Two forms: strong cognition hypothesis and weak cognition hypothesis

Strong cognition hypothesis:** Cognitive abilities are prerequisites to language skills Language will absolutely not develop without these cognitive abilities Cognition language

Weak cognition hypothesis:

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: Sensorimotor (birth-2 years)

Youtube video: Lucille Piaget’s sensorimotor

Preoperational (2-7 years)

Concrete Operations (7-11 years)** Acquires conservation and classification skills Child less egocentric, has ability to see others’ points of view

Formal Operations (over 11 years)

Clinical implications of the cognitive theory: cognition language

Lastly…** Clinicians must assess and treat cognitive precursors to language and facilitate development of these precursors before working on language itself So, with a very young child, you would work on symbolic play and object permanence before you tried to have a child say her first word

B. Social Interactionism Theory** Language function, not structure, is emphasized Language develops as a result of children’s social interactions with the important people in their lives Vygotsky (Russian psychologist): language knowledge is acquired through social interaction with more competent and experienced members of the child’s culture

According to social interactionism theory:

Clinical Implications:

Tristin, 8 years old, likes the counter; the star chart, not so much

II. Relationship of Specific Language Impairment to Speech Sound Disorders

Westby, 2015 (ASHA Schools Conference—Phoenix):

Often…

Macrae, T., & Tyler, A.A. (2014). Speech abilities in preschool children with speech sound disorder with and without co-occurring language impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 45,

Macrae & Tyler 2014:** Compared preschool children with co- occurring SSD and language impairment (LI) to children with SSD only Looked at numbers and types of errors in both groups

Macrae and Tyler 2014 found:

Dr. Melanie Schuele, ASHA Schools Conference, July 2015

III. Review of Typical Infant Language Milestones

Between 6-8 weeks of age…** Babies exhibit their first social smile

Cooing occurs….

In terms of motor milestones…** At 3 months, the baby reaches for and grasps objects At 5 months, the baby sits up with slight support

III MONTHS

At 9-12 months of age… Youtube baby talk bla bla bla

By 12 months of age…

First words** Verbalization/1 st word at 12 mos. Vocalization within pointing Pointing

Joint reference/attention is important:

Dialogues are important:

NO SCREENS!!!!!!!!

FIRST WORDS

To qualify as a true word:** It needs to occur with consistency in a given context in apparent response to an identifiable stimulus It should be produced consistently in the presence of the same person, object, or event It must bear some phonetic resemblance to a conventional adult word; it can be an approximation of a real adult word

Youtube Smartest 2-year old ever (melaniew1977) Do you think this 2-year old is saying real words?

In first words…** Front consonants /p, b, d, t, m, n/ are the most common These children use simple syllable patterns (e.g., CV, VC, CVCV)

Holophrases** Are early one-word utterances that convey a holistic communicative intention For example, these utterances can request or describe others’ actions (eat, ride, kiss) They can also ask questions (e.g., Why? What? Who?)

Youtube Toddler Tries to Argue Like an Adult This child is 20 months old

There is rapid vocabulary growth:

If the child does not have a major language growth spurt between months of age…

Therapy implication:

IV. MASTERING GRAMMATICAL MORPHEMES

MorphemeAge of Mastery** -ing19-28 mos. Regular plural –s27-33 mos. Possessive –s26-40 mos. Past tense –ed26-48 mos. Regular 3 rd person –s26-46 mos.

V. SEMANTIC DEVELOPMENT IN PRESCHOOLERS** A. Introduction Semantic development is closely related to development in motor, social, and cognitive abilities The better a child’s abilities in those areas, the more language he receives and practices

Preschoolers’ vocabularies grow fast:** months: expressive vocab goes from 50 to words By 3 years old, children will have expressive vocabularies of 900-1,000 words At 5 years, by kindergarten, they should be using 2,100- 2,200 words

Youtube video A conversation with a two-and-a-half year old By Kimmarie Bushnell

Morgan et al. (2016). Who receives speech/language services by 5 years of age in the U.S.? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25, ** They analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort from the U.S. Dept. of Education

Morgan et al., 2016, found 3 factors that were most predictive of children needing speech/lang tx: Expressive vocab delays at 24 mos. old*** Being very low birth weight Being low-SES and multicultural

(Morgan et al., 2016) found that unfortunately:

Morgan et al recommended:

PowerPoint Outline I. Review of Theories – A. Cognitive Theory (Piaget) – B. Social Interactionism (Vygotsky) II. Review of Relationship of SSD to SLI III. Review of Typical Developmental Milestones A. Infant B. Toddler C. Preschool