Nicole Rosen

Getting the right grasp on executive function

Executive Function (EF) refers to important socio-emotional and cognitive skills that are known to be highly correlated with both academic and life success. EF is a blanket term that is considered to include self-regulation, working memory, and planning. Recent studies have shown a relationship between EF and motor control. The emergence of motor control coincides with that of EF, hence understanding the relationship between these two domains could have significant implications for early detection and remediation of later EF deficits. The purpose of the current study was to investigate this relationship in young children. This study incorporated the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and two motor assessments with a focus on precision grasping to test this hypothesis. The BRIEF is comprised of two indices of EF: (1) the Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) containing three subscales: Inhibit, Shift, and Emotional Control; (2) the Metacognition Index (MI) containing five subscales: Initiate, Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials, and Monitor. A global executive composite (GEC) is derived from the two indices. In this study, right-handed children aged 5–6 and 9–10 were asked to: grasp-to-construct (Lego® models); and grasp-to-place (wooden blocks), while their parents completed the BRIEF questionnaire. Analysis of results indicated significant correlations between the strength of right hand preference for grasping and numerous elements of the BRIEF including the BRI, MI, and GEC. Specifically, the more the right hand was used for grasping the better the EF ratings. In addition, patterns of space-use correlated with the GEC in several subscales of the BRIEF. Finally and remarkably, the results also showed a reciprocal relationship between hand and space use for grasping and EF. These findings are discussed with respect to: (1) the developmental overlap of motor and executive functions; (2) detection of EF deficits through tasks that measure lateralization of hand and space use; and (3) the possibility of using motor interventions to remediate EF deficits.

Demonstrative Position in Michif

This article consists of a generative analysis of the variable surface ordering of demonstratives in Michif, a mixed language historically derived from French and Cree, and spoken by some Métis. It is claimed that all demonstratives in Michif originate in [Spec, DemP] and raise to [Spec, DP]. Prenominal demonstratives occur when the head of the movement chain is pronounced, while postnominal demonstratives are the result of two factors: first, the pronunciation of the tail rather than the head of the demonstratives movement chain, and second, the noun undergoing a last resort p-movement, adjoining to DemP. The different patterning is motivated via meaning differences in the corresponding patterns, appealing to the differences in the featural makeup of demonstratives. Pragmatic information, said here to be a contrastive focus feature, is posited on some demonstratives while not on others, yielding the different ordering and also a different interpretation. The variable nature of demonstratives cross-linguistically is also discussed.

Speech in action: degree of hand preference for grasping predicts speech articulation competence in children

Highlights: Degree of lateralization for grasping predicts the maturity of the language production system in young, typically-developing children. In this report we provide compelling evidence for the relationship between right hand grasp-to-mouth (i.e., feeding) movements and language development. Specifically, we show that children (4–5 years old) who are more right-hand lateralized in picking up small food items for consumption show enhanced differentiation of the “s” and “sh” sounds. This result suggests that left hemisphere control of hand-to-mouth gestures may have provided an evolutionary platform for the development of language. The current investigation presents the exciting possibility that early right hand-to-mouth training could accelerate the development of articulation skills.

French-Algonquian interaction in Canada: A Michif case study

This paper discusses the language contact situation between Algonquian languages and French in Canada. Michif, a French‐Plains Cree mixed language, is used as a case study for linguistic results of language contact. The paper describes the phonological, morphological, and syntactic conflict sites between the grammars of Plains Cree and French, as an example of heritage language interactions with French in areas of similar language contact. The usefulness of such examination is two‐fold. First, the particular conflict sites should assist speech‐language pathologists in their speech and language assessment and intervention with Indigenous children in similar language contact situations. Secondly, the methodology followed should provide direction for future research in speech‐language pathology concerning this and other language contact situations.

Language contact and Michif stress assignment

Summary This paper examines stress assignment in Michif, a contact language with its roots in French and Plains Cree, and spoken by a few hundred Métis today in Canada and the United States. The goal of this paper is twofold. First, to propose a first analysis of word stress in Michif, and second, to compare Michif word stress with Plains Cree and French word stress assignment systems, to see what the linguistic effects of that language contact have been. I show that the Michif stress system derives from both the Plains Cree and French stress systems. This shows that the contact of the two source languages has had implications on the new language, but also, that the new system is distinct from either, as lexical items from both Plains Cree and French vocabularies pattern in the same way. This is evidence against the commonly held view that Michif displays a split phonology based on language source (BAKKER 1997, BAKKER & PAPEN 1997, PAPEN 2003).

Stop consonant production of French immersion students in Western Canada: A study of voice onset time

Objectives/research questions: The present study investigates the development of French stop consonants among English-speaking children who are enrolled in an early French immersion program in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Our goal is to observe the stop consonant production pattern, and to determine whether interactions between the two language systems occur, while examining student progression with increasing experience. Methodology: Fifty-six students in grades 1, 3, and 5 participated in a speech production task administered in both English and French. For each language, they were asked to repeat a total of 54 words beginning with one of the six stop consonants, /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, and /g/. In addition, 45 age-matched monolingual English-speaking children were tested to serve as a control group. Data and analysis: Voice onset time (VOT) was the acoustic measure analyzed for each language and for children of each grade. An analysis of variance was conducted for language- and experience-related effects. Conclusions: For the French voiceless stops, French immersion students display non-native-like VOT values in the intermediate range between monolingual English voiced and voiceless stops. Their English voiceless stops exhibit higher VOT values than the monolinguals’ and are separate from those of their French. For voiced stops, their English and French are indistinguishable, located within the range of voiced stops for monolingual English speakers. Originality: Previous research on French–English bilingualism has generally been limited to adults. Furthermore, examination of French immersion students has rarely focused on their phonetic development, and acoustic analysis of this population is virtually non-existent. Implications: Our results highlight the importance of input, as well as social, and educational context in second language learning.