TEST 1 SLI Flashcards
What are the isssues related to characterization of SLI in children?
- Specific language Impairment (SLI): a language impairment with the apparent absence of other clearly identifiable problems
- Don’t learn language easily
- Exclusionary criteria:
- Language Score – 1.25 SD or lower (corresponding to a SS of 81 or lower on a test with mean of 100)
- Nonverbal IQ of 85 or higher (IQ within normal limits)
- Normal hearing
- No oral structural or oral motor abnormalities
- No evidence of neurological disorder
- Within normal social abilities
Are there subgroups of children w/SLI?
What are the classification?
Yes,
Classifications:
(1) comprehension and expressive;
(2) expressive difficulties only;
(3) comprehension difficulties only
Additional problems ID’ed with phonological system, socialization, gesturing (for symbolic play and/or communication purposes)
What are the possible causal factors and potential clinical markers of SLI?
- Neurological
- Language knowledge and access to language knowledge
- Cognitive deficits
- Information-processing deficits
- The language-learning environment
- Genetic/Familial bases
Expand on Neuroligical deficits of SLI?
- No conclusions, but may be some differences in brain morphology of the left and right perisylvian areas.
- Neurological soft signs (i.e., issues with chewing, sucking, swallowing; drooling; oral/motor weakness; clumsiness/’accident prone’; increased co-occurrence of ADHD, phonological awareness deficits, reading, & writing problems)
Expand on the Language knowledege and access to language knowledge of SLI?
Able to process and acquire part of requisite language info, but have trouble getting to it and bringing it forward to use it consistently – or acquire incomplete knowledge of language rule
Splinter skill
Look at the quality and quantity of skills
Expand on the possible Cognitive deficits of SLI?
May be in symbolic play, hypothesis formation, representational thought
Expand on the possible Information-processing deficits of SLI.
Speed of processing and ability to hold in memory. Fast mapping abilities may be comprimised
Expand on the possible deficits of language-learning environment in SLI.
Discussion of various factors that may be different for different families (abuse, neglect, hunger, ELL)
Not the cause of SLI but play a part in recovery
Expand on the possible deficits of the Genetics/ Familial bases of SLI.
- Language impairment has a tendency to run in families**genetic & environment interaction – likely!
- Gene locus identified in families with a history of sever speech & language impairment.
- Child with SLI more likely to have family member with a language impairment.
What is the relationship between language problems in the preschool years and later academic difficulties?
- Morphology: Children will use very few and very simple verbs; more nouns. By age eight, typically developing children should make very few to no errors with verb tense. If children demonstrate morphology difficulties at age four, problems will likely continue. {‘Morphosyntactic’ features of language are the primary deficit for children with SLI}
- Semantics: Children will have (still by age 4) a low level of vocabulary and trouble learning new words.
- Syntax: Children will have simple sentences and shorter MLUs.
What are some Syntax and Morphology problems with children with SLI?
- Problems with syntax and morphology (‘morphosyntax’)
- Problems using grammar correctly.
- A tendency to omit plural /s/
- Problems following grammatical rules.
What are some Semantic problems associated with SLI?
- Toddlers: more nouns than verbs, 17 words by 24 months (expressive vocabulary) as compared to 128-193 for children developing typically.
- Preschoolers: need to hear a new word twice as many times for comprehension and use it twice as many times before it becomes a permanent part of their vocabulary (Gray, 2003).
- Word finding problems
- Learn incomplete, partial meanings of words
- Seldom have only a semantic problem (residual phonological and syntax problems seen in most cases).
What are some phonoligical problem in children with SLI?
- Toddlers
- Difficult to understand
- Phonological problems are more easily resolved than language problems
- More quickly acquire new single words, words that start with consonants already mastered (consistent with children developing typically).
Expand Pragmatics and Discouse:SLI
Function & Intentions:
- Fewer occurrences of communicative initiations
- Fewer uses of the following functions:
- declarative and imperative
- statement functions, involving naming
- descriptive
- acknowledging
- joint attention or comment
Conversation and Discourse
They initiate conversation at the wrong time
Less responsive to peers’ attempts to initiate conversation
Problems with turntaking & interrupting
Problems with changing topics abruptly
Eye contact degree may signal amount of comprehension
Rarely use revisions involving substitutions of one syntactic or semantic element
Problems conveying both uninformative and informative elements of messages
Evidence of some ability to modify messages on basis of conversational partner’s age
Narratives of SLI define and expand
- Narrative skills are a strong predicting factor for later school success.
- Children with SLI produce narratives that contain less information, they are less skilled at signaling old and new information, and they have difficulty with certain abstract, temporal, and deictic words (i.e., words that have changing referents depending on who in a communicative dyad is speaking).
