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This study reports on the feasibility of using the Test of Complex Syntax- Electronic (TECS-E), as a self-directed app, to measure sentence comprehension in children aged 4 to 5 ½ years old; how testing apps might be adapted for effective independent use; and agreement levels between face-to-face supported computerized and independent computerized testing with this cohort. A pilot phase was completed with 4 to 4;06-year-old children, to determine the appropriate functional app features required to facilitate independent test completion. Following the integration of identified features, children completed the app independently or with adult support (4–4;05 (n = 22) 4;06–4;11 months (n = 55) and 5 to 5;05 (n = 113)) and test re-test reliability was examined. Independent test completion posed problems for children under 5 years but for those over 5, TECS-E is a reliable method to assess children's understanding of complex sentences, when used independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typically-developing bilingual children often score lower than monolingual peers of the same age on standardized measures; however, research has shown that when assessed in more natural discourse contexts, bilinguals can perform similar to age-matched monolinguals in some language subdomains. This study investigated complex syntax production in simultaneous French–English bilingual children and monolingual age-matched peers, using structured and spontaneous measures. Surprisingly, the bilinguals scored higher than the monolinguals on the structured task. There was no difference between groups on the spontaneous measure; however, predictors of complex syntax production differed by language groups and by tasks. Contrary to other language subdomains showing bilingual English development as protracted relative to monolingual peers, these results point to a relative strength of complex syntax acquisition among simultaneous bilingual children. Differences in exposure relative to monolingual children may be less pronounced in syntax, in part because bilinguals can benefit from syntactic knowledge in their other language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehension of sentences with a center-embedded, object-gapped relative clause (ORC) is challenging for children as well as adults. Mismatching lexical and grammatical features of subject noun phrases (NPs) across the main clause and relative clause has been shown to facilitate comprehension. Adani et al. concluded that children's comprehension improved under conditions of NP number mismatch (e.g., singular main clause subject and plural relative clause subject) as compared with NP number match (e.g., both singular subjects). However, their stimuli provided number information on verb phrases (VPs) as well as NPs creating a confound for conclusions about facilitative effects of NP number mismatch. In this study, we isolated the contribution of NP number mismatch. Notably, 32 6-year-olds with typical language participated in a center-embedded, ORC sentence comprehension task with 4 types of stimuli: (a) NP number mismatch without VP number information (NP mismatch only), (b) NP number match without VP number information (NP match only), (c) NP number mismatch with VP number mismatch (NP + VP mismatch), and (d) NP number match with VP number match (NP + VP match). Children selected one of four pictures in an array to a verbally presented relative clause sentence; 56 sentences were presented. The within-subjects comparison for NP mismatch only and NP match only was not significant. However, the within-subjects comparison for NP mismatch only and NP + VP mismatch was significant. Children were more successful in NP + VP mismatch sentence comprehension ( r C = 0.70). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are characterised by impaired language abilities both in comprehension and production. Complex syntax is a specific domain which is often considered challenging for children with DLD. Research regarding complex syntax is mostly concerned with the production patterns of speakers and usually employs English-speaking populations. This scoping review aims to systematically map the abilities of non-English-speaking children with DLD to comprehend complex syntactic structures, comparing these results with the broader literature on English-speaking children with DLD. It also aims to consider the account (i.e. grammatical vs processing) by which these abilities can be explained. Four online databases were used to extract original research articles published between 2011 and 2021. Of the 264 studies initially identified, 20 studies were included in the review. The results demonstrated that children with DLD present with difficulties in comprehending object relative clauses, wh-questions, sentences with non-canonical word order, passives, and other types of complex syntax. All of these challenges are also evident in English-speaking children with DLD and can be mainly attributed either to the inability of children to assign thematic roles, their restricted working memory capacities, or a combination thereof. It is concluded that the comprehension of complex syntax might be a universal marker of DLD, which can be explained on the basis of either a grammatical or a processing account, or both. Common challenges in certain structures across languages can be used to design a comprehension assessment tool that can be applied in several languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this study was to compare the syntactic complexity of informational texts produced by fifth-grade students (a) with and without language impairment and (b) with and without native English-speaking proficiency on a curriculum-based reading and writing task. Expository writing samples produced by 114 children enrolled in the fifth grade were analyzed at the utterance level for five features of complex syntax, including the frequency of utterances containing complex syntax and specific clause types (conjoined, subordinate, relative, full complement). For each of the four groups, we report frequency counts, means, standard deviations, and ranges of performance across the five syntax measures. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed there were significant group differences on measures. Specifically, children with typical language development, regardless of English proficiency level, wrote more words, utterances, and different word roots than their peers with language impairment. When productivity (i.e., text length) in the writing samples was controlled, multivariate analysis of variance revealed there was a significant difference between groups in use of relative clauses, but not for the use of conjoined, subordinate, or full complement clauses. In particular, English proficient students with language impairment produced a greater proportion of utterances with relative clauses. A post hoc correlation analysis showed moderate, positive correlations among writing cohesion and variables of complex syntax. We consider multiple implications for clinical practice and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have persistent language difficulties in complex syntax. To date, few studies have examined the effectiveness of syntactic training focusing on complex grammar, with no existing studies having been done in French. In English, the SHAPE CODING (SC) system, which combines shapes and colors to identify the nature and function of words and sentence types, has been shown to be effective with children and adolescents with DLD. Our study assesses the effectiveness of a French adaptation of the SC methodology on the mastery of three syntactically complex structures: object relatives, accusative clitics and passives.We developed a training protocol, inspired by the SC principles, comprised of 13 sessions of 30 minutes, and compared the ability of 18 children with DLD aged 7 to 11 to produce the target structures before and after syntactic training. Three lists of 12 trained sentences were directly trained whereas three untrained (matched) lists were used as a measure of generalization. An untrained structure was used as a control measure.Comparison of scores, as measured by dedicated baselines, shows that training results in improved performance for all target structures, whereas no progression is observed on control items (verbal inflexions), which are not trained. More specifically, results show an improvement on sentences directly trained during the protocol, but also on new sentences that contain the same target structures, reflecting the generalization of the production of these structures.Findings confirm the effectiveness of an explicit approach in grammar interventions and they provide new perspectives on language therapy dedicated to children with DLD. The implications of the results are also discussed at the individual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the use of sophisticated vocabulary, complex syntax, and decontextualized language (including book information, conceptual information, past/future experiences, and vocabulary information) in teachers' instructional interactions with children during the literacy block in prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. The sample included 33 teachers and 421 children. We examined correlations among these language features and their unique contributions to children's vocabulary learning. Teachers who used more sophisticated vocabulary also engaged in more decontextualized talk about vocabulary and past/future experiences. Additionally, teachers' use of complex syntax was uniquely associated with talk about conceptual information. Both complex syntax and conceptual information talk predicted children's vocabulary learning; however, complex syntax emerged as the sole predictor when accounting for this relationship. This finding suggests that decontextualized talk about concepts, characterized by complex language structures, may facilitate vocabulary acquisition.

English syntax acquisition is crucial for developing literacy but may be challenging for many children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL). This study longitudinally investigates syntactic complexity and diversity of stories retold by children with EAL and their monolingual peers as well as the relationship between syntax and vocabulary. This is a secondary data analysis using data from the Surrey Communication and Language in Education study (SCALES). Sixty-one children with EAL were matched to their monolingual peers on sex, age and teacher-rated language proficiency. Children’s narratives were collected in Year 1 (age 5-6) and Year 3 (age 7-8) and coded for clause type. Dependent variables included Mean Length of Utterance in words (MLUw) and Clausal Density (CD) as measures of syntactic complexity and Complex Syntax Type-Token Ratio (CS-TTR) estimating syntactic diversity. Children with EAL presented syntactically complex and diverse narratives equivalent to monolingual peers in Year 1 and Year 3. Growth rate in syntactic complexity was associated with English vocabulary in Year 1. Among children with low vocabulary, children with EAL developed syntactic complexity at a faster rate than monolingual peers, while the opposite was true in the high-vocabulary group. Children with average vocabulary progressed at parallel rates. Children with EAL and their monolingual peers used broadly the same complex structures but with varying frequency. In this longitudinal study comparing children with EAL and monolinguals on complex clauses, the interaction between emerging bilingualism and vocabulary knowledge in the societal language predicted different patterns of growth in syntactic complexity. Children with EAL frequently use different syntactic structures to achieve similar syntactic complexity and diversity. These findings demonstrate that in early primary school, children with EAL have syntactic skills comparable to their monolingual peers.

Over-identification of language disorder among bilingual children with typical development (TD) is a risk factor in assessment. One strategy for improving assessment accuracy with bilingual children is to determine which linguistic sub-domains differentiate bilingual children with TD from bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD). To date, little research on sequential bilinguals with TD and DLD has focussed on complex (multi-clausal) sentences in naturalistic production, even though this is a noted domain of weakness for school-age monolinguals with DLD. Accordingly, we sought to determine if there were differences in the use of complex sentences in conversational and narrative tasks between school-age sequential bilinguals with TD and with DLD at the early stages of L2 acquisition. We administered a conversation and a narrative task to 63 English L2 children with TD and DLD, aged 5–7 years with 2 years of exposure to the L2. Children had diverse first language backgrounds. The L2-TD and L2-DLD groups were matched for age, length of L2 exposure and general L2 proficiency (receptive vocabulary size). Language samples from both tasks were coded and analyzed for the use of complex versus simple sentences, for the distribution of complex sentence types, for clausal density and mean length of utterance (MLU). Complex sentences included coordinated clauses, sentential complement clauses, adverbial clauses and relative clauses. Using regression modelling and PERMANOVA, we found that the L2-TD group produced more complex sentences than the L2-DLD group, with coordinated clauses, adverbial clauses and relative clauses differing the most between the groups. Furthermore, the two groups differed for mean clausal density, but not for MLU, indicating that clausal density and MLU did not estimate identical morphosyntactic abilities. Individual variation in complex sentence production for L2-TD was predicted by longer L2 exposure and task; by contrast, for L2-DLD, it was predicted by older age. This study indicates that complex sentence production is an area of weakness for bilingual children with DLD, as it is for monolinguals with DLD. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.