Esther Dromi

The Hebrew Communicative Development Inventory: Language Specific Properties and Cross-Linguistic Generalizations.

Cultural, linguistic, and developmental evidence was taken into consideration in constructing the HCDI, a Hebrew adaptation of the MCDI. The HCDI was then administered to a stratified sample of Israeli mothers of 253 toddlers aged 1;6 to 2;0 (M = 1;8.18). Hebrew results are presented and compared with scores from the original MCDI sample (Fenson, Dale, Reznick, Bates, Thal & Pethick, 1994). The HCDI is a reliable and sensitive measure of lexical development and emergent grammar, capturing wide variability among Israeli toddlers. In comparison with English, the relation between vocabulary size and age, as well as the shape of the growth curves for nouns, predicate terms, and closed class words relative to size of lexicon, were strikingly similar. These results indicate that conclusions concerning cross-linguistic similarities can be best documented by using parallel methods of measurement. The HCDI results support the claim that early lexical development in Hebrew and in English follow remarkably similar development patterns, despite the typological differences between the two target languages.

The phonology–morphology interface in the speech of Hebrew-speaking children with specific language impairment

UNLABELLED Phonological deficits are common in children with specific language impairment (SLI). However, the degree to which they constitute an area of extraordinary difficulty, and their contribution to the morphological deficits of these children are largely unknown. In this investigation, we studied a group of young children with SLI who were acquiring Hebrew, a language in which phonology and morphology are closely linked. The phonology of these children lagged behind that of same-age peers as well as younger normally developing children matched according to mean number of morphemes per utterance. Furthermore, the children with SLI were more likely to commit phonological errors that neutralized important morphological distinctions in their language. These findings have implications for both assessment and therapy. LEARNING OUTCOMES As a result of this activity, the following learning outcomes will be achieved: The participant will be able to: (1) describe the differences in phonology between children with SLI and typically developing children; (2) describe the impact ofphonological disorders on the assessment of the morphological systems of children with SLI; and (3) explain the necessary modifications to a therapy program for children with a combination of morphological and phonological disorders.

The use of Hebrew verb morphology by children with specific language impairment and children developing language normally

Hebrew-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI) are reported to use grammatical morphology to the same degree as younger normally-developing children with comparable mean lengths of utterance (MLU). Given the difficulty that English-speaking children with SLI seem to experience with morphology and the fact that Hebrew morphology is complicated, such a finding is noteworthy. This issue is explored in the present study through a more thorough assessment of the use of verb inflections by a group of Hebrew-speaking children with SLI and two groups of normally-developing children, one matched with the children with SLI according to age, the other according to MLU. The findings revealed that for a range of verb inflections the Hebrew-speaking children with SLI showed percentages of use that were similar to those seen for the MLU-matched control children. Furthermore, the children with SLI, like their normally- developing counterparts, showed evidence of creative productions, suggesting that more than the memorization of unanalysed forms was at work. The implications of these findings for current accounts of morphological deficits are discussed.

Mothers' Involvement in Early Intervention for Children with Hearing Loss: The Role of Maternal Characteristics and Context-Based Perceptions.

This study examined the contribution of a model of maternal characteristics in explaining mothers’ involvement in the early intervention of their 1- to 7-year-old children with hearing loss. The model of maternal factors affecting mothers’ involvement in intervention comprised (a) four personal characteristics conceived as exogenous variables (anxiety, curiosity, anger, and motivation) and (b) two maternal context-based perceptions conceived as mediating variables (pessimism about their children’s potentials and informal social support). The sample included 114 mother—child dyads (67 boys, 47 girls) who attended the Kesher early intervention program in Israel. Path analysis indicated a high fit between the theoretical model and the empirical findings. Discussion focused on understanding the unique value of mothers’ characteristics for their involvement in their children’s early intervention programs.

Language-specific and Language-general in Developing Syntax.

The distribution of a number of syntactic structures in the speech output of 102 Israeli preschoolers was examined. Findings on the proportion of grammatically analysable clauses, the patterning of word order in Hebrew child language, and the emergence of syntactic connectedness through coordination and subordination of clauses are reported. Our analysis reveals that while in some areas there are clearly age-related differences among preschool children, other types of syntactic patternings exhibit a stable behaviour. We refer to the importance of integrating findings for a wide variety of seemingly unrelated syntactic constructions across different discourse modes. We also claim that complex interactions between structural, semantic and pragmatic factors underlie the childs acquisition of syntax.

Word-meaning acquisition in the one-word stage: a reply to Nelson's review

The following response to Nelson’s lengthy review of my book represents what I consider to be the key facets of my investigation of early lexical development. Focus will be on those aspects which Nelson failed to consider, in her preoccupation with whether or not my discussion supported her own views on the subject. As is stated below, my research goals were much broader than simply testing Nelson’s theoretical claims. Some of my results, however, can be interpreted as providing fresh empirical support for certain central themes in Nelson’s own current thinking (e.g., 1985, 1988). These comments suggest that Nelson’s treatment of my results should be evaluated cautiously, and that a number of her conclusions need to be revised.

Preschoolers’ social interest toward a child with ASD and their Theory of Mind abilities

ABSTRACT This study examined the Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities of typically developing preschoolers in three age groups: three- to four-, four- to five- and five- to six-years-old (n = 110), who differed in their spontaneous social interest toward included children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social interest was assessed by administering a teacher questionnaire and by nominations of the teacher and educational aide. ToM measures included five tasks of mental-state understanding: (1) diverse desires; (2) knowledge access; (3) diverse beliefs; (4) false belief; and (5) hidden emotions. ToM levels were significantly higher in the socially interested group only for the youngest age group of three- to four-years-old. In this age group, children who showed social interest toward the included peer had higher ToM scores than children who did not reach out to peers with ASD. For better understanding of social interest in the older two age groups, factors other than ToM should be defined and investigated further.

Book Review : Precursors of Early Speech. B. Lindblom & R. Zetterström (eds) New York: Stockton Press, 1986). Pp. xx + 314. Hardback, £42.50. ISBN 0 333 39322 8

About 15 years ago, Roger Brown proposed that the period of multi-word productions should be termed Stage 1 in language acquisition. At that early phase in the history of child language research, the very possibility of carrying out scientific linguistic investigations of the periods that precede the emergence of syntax was seriously doubted (Brown 1973: 152-3). Lindblom & Zetterstrom’s edited volume containing 19 chapters summarizes research programmes on a wide range of topics all related to the period that precede conventional speech. This work is a proceeding of an international symposium held in 1984, and it clearly demonstrates contemporary interest of child language researchers in the origins of speech and language, and their predictive value for subsequent linguistic attainments. In the first chapter, S6derbergh discusses a shift in the theoretical thinking about child development in general and language acquisition in particular. She argues that while in the past models of language were static or structural, today more dynamic views on interaction and development predominate. This theoretical shift, in her opinion, explains why it has recently been so often emphasized that young children take such an active role in language acquisition. Three chapters in the book deal with the phonetic structure of early vocalizations (Oller; Koopmans van Beinum & van der Stelt; Lindblom, Aurelius, Jalling & Zetterstr6m). Besides providing a descriptive account of how speech sounds enter the child’s productive vocal system, all these writers devote space to the methodological question of how early speech sounds should be transcribed and analysed. The question of whether prelinguistic behaviours are predictive of later language developments is addressed in three chapters. Michelsson’s chapter provides a spectrographic analysis of infants’ crying and discusses its prognostic value. Menyuk, Liebergott, and Schultz as well as Vihman report on correlational studies in which measures of early and late linguistic behaviours were compared. In these two research programmes no direct link was found between early phonological ability and later lexical, phonological, and syntactic knowledge. However, the authors suggest some indirect, more complex links between these variables. The results of a