Maria Adelaida Restrepo

Grammatical Characteristics of a Spanish-English Bilingual Child with Specific Language Impairment

These case studies describe and compare the language characteristics of two bilingual children: one with specific language impairment (SLI) and one with normal language development (NL). Using spontaneous language sampling, we found that the linguistic skills of the bilingual child with SLI were qualitatively different from those of the NL child across languages. The child with SLI produced significantly more morphosyntactic errors and less variety of grammatical forms and sentence types in both languages as compared to the NL child. In addition, some of those errors were different from those typically produced by monolingual children with SLI or speakers of English as a second language. Furthermore, the bilingual child with SLI demonstrated significant first- language loss. These findings support the hypothesis that there are cross-linguistic variations of grammatical SLI markers, and they highlight the importance of early intervention in preventing first-language loss. Moreover, the findings suggest that clinicians should expect morphosyntactic differences between monolingual and bilingual children with SLI.

Article use in Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment

The current study analysed article use in Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment who are learning English as a second language. The surface hypothesis account of specific language impairment was evaluated in relation to the use of articles in these children. Language samples were obtained from 15 Spanish-speaking children with language impairment and 15 with normal language, ages 5;0 to 7;1, matched by age, gender, and school. The percentage of article errors was tested between groups with a nonparametric analysis and an analysis of covariance with mean length of terminable unit as the covariate. Results revealed significant differences between groups on percent of article errors with and without MLTU as the covariate. Nonparametric statistics on percent of article error types indicated that most errors consisted of omissions and gender agreement substitutions. As predicted by the Surface Hypothesis, article errors were likely to occur in unstressed definite articles, suggesting that perceptual and prosodic processes have some impact on childrens production of articles.

Individual differences and language interdependence: a study of sequential bilingual development in Spanish–English preschool children

Abstract The purpose of the current study is to examine language influence in sequential bilinguals. Specifically, this study evaluates whether performance in a first language predicts success in the acquisition of a second language nine months after exposure to the second language begins. Forty-nine Spanish-speaking children attending English-only pre-kindergarten classrooms participated in the study. Children were assessed in Spanish at the beginning of the school year using the Spanish version of the Bilingual English Spanish Assessment (BESA), MLU in words, and a lexical diversity measure, D, obtained from a language sample. Nine months later, children were assessed in English using the English-BESA. Analyses indicated significant correlations between semantic and grammatical measures across languages. Stepwise regression analyses found that grammatical and semantic measures in the first language robustly predicted grammatical and semantic measures in the second language. We propose that native language skills predict the success in second language acquisition, not because of linguistic transfer, but by virtue of individual differences in language learning abilities present in typical populations.

The Dimensionality of Language Ability in Young Children

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the dimensionality of language ability for young children (4-8 years) from prekindergarten to third grade (n = 915), theorizing that measures of vocabulary and grammar ability will represent a unitary trait across these ages, and to determine whether discourse skills represent an additional source of variance in language ability. Results demonstrated emergent dimensionality of language across development with distinct factors of vocabulary, grammar, and discourse skills by third grade, confirming that discourse skills are an important source of variance in childrens language ability and represent an important additional dimension to be accounted for in studying growth in language skills over the course of childhood.

Interactions between Bilingual Effects and Language Impairment: Exploring Grammatical Markers in Spanish-Speaking Bilingual Children.

This study examines the interaction between language impairment and different levels of bilingual proficiency. Specifically, we explore the potential of articles and direct object pronouns as clinical markers of primary language impairment (PLI) in bilingual Spanish-speaking children. The study compared children with PLI and typically developing children (TD) matched on age, English language proficiency, and mothers education level. Two types of bilinguals were targeted: Spanish-dominant children with intermediate English proficiency (asymmetrical bilinguals, AsyB), and near-balanced bilinguals (BIL). We measured childrens accuracy in the use of direct object pronouns and articles with an elicited language task. Results from this preliminary study suggest language proficiency affects the patterns of use of direct object pronouns and articles. Across language proficiency groups, we find marked differences between TD and PLI, in the use of both direct object pronouns and articles. However, the magnitude of the difference diminishes in balanced bilinguals. Articles appear more stable in these bilinguals and therefore, seem to have a greater potential to discriminate between TD bilinguals from those with PLI. Future studies using discriminant analyses are needed to assess the clinical impact of these findings.

Screening for Conduct Disorder in an Adolescent Male Sample from Colombia

This study assessed the validity, reliability, and utility of a screening measure for detecting the signs or symptoms of Conduct Disorder in male adolescents from schools in Medellín, Colombia. A first study examined the differences between 70 male offender adolescents (aged 12-16 years) attending alternative education institutions, and 68 (sex, age, and socioeconomic status (SES)-matched) adolescent controls attending regular schools. A CD checklist (CD-CL) was constructed to be used by mothers (CD-CL-M) and for self-report by adolescents (CD-CL-SR). The validity of the screener for CD diagnosis was supported by significant differences between groups (ANOVA, p < .001). The CD-CL-SR had better sensitivity/specificity with a diagnostic cut-off point of 5 (sensitivity = 95.3% and specificity = 90.5%) than the CD-CL-M. A second study used the CD-CLSR with a random sample of 190 male adolescents (aged 12 to 16 years) from schools of low, middle and high SES. Reliability as assessed by Cronbach’s alpha was 0.86. An epidemiological cut point of 5 classified 35.5% of the adolescents assessed as probable CD cases. A psychometric cut point at T score > 59 (85th percentile) estimated 16.8% of the sample as probable CD cases. A psychometric cut point at T score > 64 (90th percentile) revealed that 10.5% of the sample would be severe CD cases. Some significant differences (p < 0.001) in proportions of CD adolescents were found between age and SES groups. It was concluded that such a high frequency of conduct problems in adolescence argues for the need for preventive programs in Colombian schools.

The Complexity of the Spanish Subjunctive in Bilingual Children with SLI.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the use of the Spanish subjunctive in bilingual children with and without specific language impairments (SLI). Using an elicitation task, we examine: (i) the potential of the subjunctive as a grammatical marker of SLI in Spanish-English bilingual children, (ii) the extent to which degree of bilingualism affects performance, and (iii) the specific patterns of errors across groups. The participants in this study include 16 children with SLI and 16 typically developing children (TD) matched on age, English language proficiency, and mother’s education level. Bilingual children are classified either as Spanish-dominant children with intermediate English proficiency (asymmetrical bilinguals, AsyBi) or near-balanced bilinguals (BalBi). The experimental task consists of a sentence-completion exercise eliciting the subjunctive in complement, purpose, and temporal clauses. Results suggest that (i) level of bilingual proficiency, language clinical status, and age predicts the accurate production of the subjunctive; and (ii) temporal clauses might have a better potential to discriminate between TD children and children with SLI in bilingual settings. This study provides general support for grammatically targeted approaches to assessment in bilingual populations.