Department of Special Education SPED 780 Class 4 Language Judith Mack, MSEd, MSW Adjunct Lecturer Department of Special Education

Agenda What is language? Connection between LD and language Speech and language impairments Discussion of Culture and Language

Turn & Talk: What do you know? Describe what you know about the topic already. What are some classroom situations/students that come to mind when you consider the topic? What are some questions you have about the topic? What do you want to know more about?

Chapter Outline What is language? Are language problems common in learning disabilities? What are the elements of spoken language and characteristics of students with learning disabilities in spoken language? How are spoken language abilities assessed? How can spoken language problems be addressed?

Small Group Definitions What Is Language? Small Group Definitions

What Is Language? Language is a socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combination of those symbols. Language is a mode for communicating thoughts and ideas.

What Is Language? Language is a made up of various modes and three linguistic elements. Paralinguistic elements – intonation, stress or emphasis, speed of delivery and pauses Nonlinguistic elements – “body language” Metalinguistic elements – the thinking and talking about language as well as the analysis of language

Are Language Problems Common in Learning Disabilities? The definition of learning disability in IDEA: “In general—the term ‘specific learning disability’ means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using the language, spoken or written.” (IDEA S. 1248, Sec 602(29)(A), 2003) \

Clarifying Terms Associated with Language Speech – is the physical productions of sounds for communication. Language – is the socially shared code with rules used to represent topics. Communication – is the process of encoding, transmitting, and decoding language to express ideas.

Language can be divided into two major categories What Are the Elements of Spoken Language and Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities in Spoken Language? Language can be divided into two major categories Receptive language – the listener’s behavior Expressive language – the production of language More students with learning disabilities have difficulty in this area. Problems with expression include: Dysnomia Dysarthia Apraxia

Phonology Phonology – the study of the sound system of language Phoneme – the smallest unit of sound Example: sin /s/ /i/ /n/ (3 phonemes) thin /th/ /i/ /n/ (3 phonemes) thing /th/ /i/ /ng/ (3 phonemes)

Phonology Problems with phonology involve the production of speech and are referred to as articulation problems. Students with learning disabilities often have difficulties: Identifying sounds Segmenting and blending sounds Auditory discrimination

Syntax Syntax – the patterns or rules people use to put words together into sentences Kids are faster than kittens. Kids are not faster than kittens. The difference in syntax in this sentence is not, but the meaning is completely reversed.

Syntax Students with learning disabilities have difficulty with sentences that have: Ambiguous meanings Pronoun references More complex structures

Morphology Morphology – the intraword rule system that affects the meaning of words A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language Students with learning disabilities have significant trouble with morphology, especially morphemes that indicate: Tense Possessives Plurals

Phoneme vs. Morpheme Phoneme- any of a small set of basic units of sound, different for each language, eg. /t/, /d/, /k/, /a/, /oi/, /th/ Morpheme –minimal grammatical units of a language that cannot be divided into smaller grammatical parts (smallest unit of meaning or lexical unit) eg. s, ish, ness, ly, ic, ism

Semantics Semantics – the study of the meanings of words and words in groups, particularly sentences An example of semantics is understanding the meaning of the word speech in these two sentences. The President’s speech gave the country confidence. The child’s speech is difficult to understand Students with learning disabilities often have less- developed vocabularies than their nondisabled peers and often have difficulties with ambiguous words.

Pragmatics Pragmatics – the way in which language is used in social situations Students with learning disabilities often have difficulties: Providing descriptive information about objects Interpreting adult nonverbal cues Mistakes in how they use language may lead to social problems for these students

Metalinguistic Awareness Metalinguistic awareness – thinking about language, including: Phonemic awareness Word awareness Syntactic awareness Pragmatic awareness

Metalinguistic Awareness Phonemic awareness – identifying and manipulating larger parts of spoken language, such as words, syllables, onsets and rimes—as well as phonemes. Example: chip ch ip, cat, c at

Problems with Metalinguistical Skills Students with learning problems in language coding struggle with: Storing verbal language in memory Using verbal information in working memory Retrieving information from long-term memory Using learning strategies

What disabilities are associated with language problems? Hearing loss/deafness Intellectual Disability Autism Spectrum Disorders Traumatic Brain Injury Brain Damage from Stroke or Disease Specific Language Impairment Learning Disabilities

Are Language Problems Common in Learning Disabilities? Previously the focus was on perceptual processes. The existing research strongly supports the role of language problems, particularly young children’s skills in phonemic awareness.

How Are Spoken Language Abilities Assessed? Standardized assessments Comprehensive standardized assessments IQ tests can be a good measure of verbal ability Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - III

How Are Spoken Language Abilities Assessed? Informal language assessment methods include language observation, specific language tasks, and language samples. Teachers can collect and analyze language samples: Spontaneous Imitation Elicited

How Can Spoken Language Problems Be Addressed? General principles and accommodations for teaching language include: Teach comprehension and production Adjust pacing, chunk information, and check for understanding to promote comprehension Increase wait time to promote production Use self-talk and parallel talk to describe what you and others are doing and thinking Use modeling to demonstrate language Use expansion and elaboration

Effective Practices for Teaching Spoken-Language Skills Semantic feature analysis Draws students’ attention to features and meanings of words that make them unique, thus increasing vocabulary and understanding Keyword mnemonics Provide a visual and auditory memory retrieval device for new and unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts

Effective Practices for Teaching Spoken-Language Skills Phonemic Awareness Statement repetition Students with learning disabilities do poorly on these tasks Helps students to improve their strategies for retaining auditory information and for checking their understanding of spoken language

Identification of Language Disorders 1. Nonverbal aspects of language are culturally inappropriate. 2. Student does not express basic needs adequately. 3. Student rarely initiates verbal interaction with peers. http://www.gwu.edu/~cooptchr/SpecialEd/idspedneeds.htm

Identification of Language Disorders 4. When peers initiate interaction, student responds sporadically/inappropriately. 5. Student replaces speech with gestures, communicates nonverbally when talking would be appropriate and expected. 6. Peers give indications that they have difficulty understanding the student. http://www.gwu.edu/~cooptchr/SpecialEd/idspedneeds.htm

Identification of Language Disorders 7. Student often gives inappropriate responses. 8. Student has difficulty conveying thoughts in an organized, sequential manner that is understandable to listeners. 9. Student shows poor topic maintenance ('skips around'). http://www.gwu.edu/~cooptchr/SpecialEd/idspedneeds.htm

Identification of Language Disorders 10. Student has word-finding difficulties that go beyond second language acquisition patterns. 11. Student fails to provide significant information to the listener, leaving the listener confused. http://www.gwu.edu/~cooptchr/SpecialEd/idspedneeds.htm

Identification of Language Disorders 12. Student has difficulty with conversational turn- taking skills (may be too passive or may interrupt inappropriately). 13. Student perseverates (remains too long) on a topic even after the topic has changed. 14. Student fails to ask and answer questions appropriately.   http://www.gwu.edu/~cooptchr/SpecialEd/idspedneeds.htm

Identification of Language Disorders 15. Student needs to hear things repeated, even when they are stated simply and comprehensibly. 16. Student often echoes what she or he hears. http://www.gwu.edu/~cooptchr/SpecialEd/idspedneeds.htm

Turn & Talk What is something new that you learned about language? How will this knowledge be applied to your teaching?

What is academic language? Academic language is: Spoken in the classroom and workplace Written into text Used in formal assessments Required for academic success The language of power Note: To see an extended introduction to academic language, look at chapters 4 and 5 of the Doing What Works’ Digital Workshop about Teaching Reading to English Language Learners.

Lisa Delpit Issues of power are enacted in classrooms. There are codes or rules for participating in power; that is, there is a “culture of power.” The rules of the culture of power are a reflection og the rules of the culture of those who have power. If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier. Those with power are frequently least aware of – or at least willing to acknowledge its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence. From, Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom, p.24

How does Language Relate to Race and Culture? Discuss Lagrander reading How is language impacted in human development for children with learning disabilities when cultural diversity is a factor? Do these issues affect an individual’s ability to learn? How can special education professionals enhance language development for individuals with cultural and linguistic differences?

For Next Week Choose a research paper topic Initial Reflection Paper Required Reading: Hallahan, Chapter 12 King-Sears Goldstein