Jodi Tommerdahl

A model for bridging the gap between neuroscience and education

As the brain sciences make advances in our understanding of how the human brain functions, many educators are looking to findings from the neurosciences to inform classroom teaching methodologies. This paper takes the view that the neurosciences are an excellent source of knowledge regarding learning processes, but also provides a warning regarding the idea that findings from the laboratory can be directly transposed into the classroom. The article proposes a model of five levels which describe different types of knowledge that must all contribute to new teaching methodologies. These include the levels of neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, educational theory and testing, and finally the classroom.

Deductive Versus Probabilistic Reasoning in Healthy Adults: An EEG Analysis of Neural Differences

This study examined the electrophysiological signatures of deductive and probabilistic reasoning. Deduction is defined as the case in which a conclusion can be found to be true or false due to validity of argument. In probabilistic reasoning, however, conclusions can be considered to be likely or unlikely, but not with certainty due to the lack of validity in the form of the argument. 16 participants were presented with both types of arguments while response times and ERPs were carried out. Participants had to decide with the presentation of each argument, what type of reasoning was appropriate and which of four responses (certainly yes, probably yes, probably no and certainly no) was the most appropriate. Response times indicated faster processing of deductive arguments. N2 amplitude distinguished between positive and negative responses in the deductive condition, but not in the probabilistic one, suggesting partial differentiation between the cognitive processes required for the two types of reasoning.

What teachers of students with SEBD need to know about speech and language difficulties

It is recognised increasingly that a large proportion of students in social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) settings have speech and language difficulties (SLD). It is therefore important for school administrators and teachers to understand the links between language and behaviour. This article provides teachers with theoretical knowledge of language difficulties along with practical notions of assessment and support. After links between SLD and SEBD are explored, insight into the origins and the nature of speech and language difficulties based on recent neuroscientific research is discussed. This is followed by a description of speech and language difficulties from a linguistic perspective, which aims to provide classroom teachers with a framework that can be used to identify and assist students with SLD. A range of practical assessment activities is also provided.

F-LARSP 1.0: an adaptation of the LARSP language profile for French.

The Language Assessment, Remediation and Screening Procedure (; The grammatical analysis of language disability. London: Edward Arnold) is a linguistic profile commonly used by researchers and clinicians to carry out detailed analyses of the grammar and morphology of children’s spontaneous language samples. This article discusses the methods used to adapt the profile from English to French using a large corpus of child language in order to accurately assign morphosyntactic structures to age-based stages.

Analysing frequency and temporal reliability of children’s morphosyntactic production in spontaneous language samples of varying lengths

Spontaneous language samples are a useful tool in studying the nature of morphosyntactic production in both clinical and academic settings. However, little work has been done on typical frequency of occurrence of morpheme production and even less on the degree of temporal reliability of morpheme frequency between samples. This study compares two language samples recorded within a week of each other under similar conditions in a test–retest paradigm for each of 23 typically developing children aged 2;6–3;6 to examine the production of the following morphemes associated with specific language impairment: contracted auxiliary, copula, do as an uncontracted auxiliary, be as an uncontracted auxiliary, third person singular and past tense. Also analyzed were all utterances containing more than one verb. Frequency and reliability of four different sample lengths ranging from 50 to 200 utterances were tested. Results showed generally low degrees of reliability at 50 and 100 utterances, with only limited improvement for most targets at 200 utterances. Clinical implications of these results are discussed.

Difficulty in SLI diagnosis: A case study of identical twins

This paper examines identical 12‐year‐old twins with language difficulties, one of whom falls into the diagnostic remit of SLI while the other does not due to IQ differences. Further diagnostic testing was carried out and their language was analysed to determine whether their diagnoses were reflected by different linguistic abilities. Results show a strong similarity in linguistic profiles, leading to a questioning of IQ use in SLI diagnosis.

The reliability of morphological analyses in language samples

It is currently unclear to what extent a spontaneous language sample of a given number of utterances is representative of a child’s ability in morphology and syntax. This lack of information about the regularity of children’s linguistic productions and the reliability of spontaneous language samples have serious implications for language testing based upon natural language. This study investigates the reliability of children’s spontaneous language samples by using a test-retest procedure to examine repeated samples of various lengths (50, 100, 150, and 200 utterances) in regard to morpheme production in 23 typically developing children aged 2;6 to 3;6. Analyses indicate that out of five morphosyntactic categories studied, one of these (the contracted auxiliary) achieves an ICC for absolute agreement over .6 using 100 utterances while most others (past tense, third-person singular and the uncontracted ‘be’ in an auxiliary form) fail to reach a correlation above .52 even when samples of 200 utterances are compared. The study indicates that (1) 200-utterance samples did not provide a significantly greater degree of reliability than 100 utterance samples; (2) several structures that children were able to produce did not show up in a 200-utterance sample; and (3) earlier acquired morphemes were not used more reliably than more recently acquired items. The notion of reliability and its importance in the area of spontaneous language samples and language testing are also discussed.

Child-directed speech: An examination of frequency and reliability in spontaneous language samples.

Abstract Little research exists regarding language reliability, meaning that it is unknown to what degree language samples represent an individual’s typical linguistic production. While few studies exist regarding child language reliability, fewer exist for adults. This study uses a test–retest procedure to examine frequency and reliability of morphosyntactic production in the language of 17 mothers interacting with their children. To examine reliability of different sample lengths, counts and reliability are calculated at 50, 100, 150 and 200 utterances. Results are compared to those of children (2;6–3;6) involved in a larger study and reported in previous work. Results show that (1) frequency counts were higher for adults than children, (2) reliability of most elements was markedly lower in adult language, and (3) relative frequency of items in the child language samples mirrored those in adult samples.