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It has been proposed that an implicit learning deficit explains the difficulties with grammar commonly observed in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). The present study further investigates this link in two ways. Firstly, we investigate whether kindergartners with DLD have more difficulties with preposition understanding and production as compared to their typically developing peers because they have not (yet) learned to weigh implicit structural information (word order) over more explicit semantic information (noun animacy; Study 1). Secondly, we investigate whether kindergartners with DLD learn to comprehend and produce locative prepositions from an implicit learning context (Study 2). In Study 1 we observed that Dutch kindergartners with DLD (n = 32) made more errors in preposition comprehension (picture-matching task) and preposition production (semi-spontaneous production task) as compared to their typically developing peers (n = 30). We have no evidence that these differences can be explained by a difference in cue weighing or implicit learning ability (serial reaction time task). In Study 2 we observed that the storytelling context led to an increase in preposition production in children with DLD, but we found no evidence that it also led to a better understanding and more semantically accurate productions of the prepositions. We conclude that Dutch kindergartners with DLD have difficulties with locative prepositions but cannot conclude that differences in cue-weighing or implicit learning play a role herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study compares the home language environments of children with (a suspicion of) developmental language disorder (DLD) with that of children with typical development (TD). It does so by adopting new technology that automatically provides metrics about children's language environment (Language ENvironment Analysis [LENA]). In addition, relationships between LENA metrics and standardized language tests are explored in the DLD group. Method: Ninety-nine 2- to 4-year-old toddlers participated: 59 with (a suspicion of) DLD and 40 with TD. LENA metrics on adult word count, conversational turn count, and child vocalization count were obtained. For all children, data on parental education and multilingualism were available. In the DLD group, data were collected on receptive and expressive vocabulary and grammar, and on nonverbal intelligence, using standardized tests. Results: We found lower adult word count, conversational turn count, and child vocalization count in the DLD group, independent of multilingualism but not of parental education. In the DLD group, receptive vocabulary was related to conversational turn count and child vocalization count, but not to adult word count. Expressive vocabulary, receptive grammar, and expressive grammar were not related to LENA metrics. Conclusions: Toddlers with (a suspicion of) DLD vocalize less at home than children with TD. They also hear fewer adult words and experience fewer conversational turns. Children with DLD's language outcomes are to a limited extent related to language environment at home. Conversational turns and child vocalizations are in this respect more important than adult words, in line with findings for TD populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While narrative tasks have proven to be valid measures for detecting language disorders, measuring communicative skills and predicting future academic performance, research into the comparability of different narrative tasks has shown that outcomes are dependent on the type of task used. Although many of the studies detecting task differences touch upon the fact that tasks place differential demands on cognitive abilities like auditory attention and memory, few studies have related specific narrative tasks to these cognitive abilities. Examining this relation is especially warranted for children with specific language impairment (SLI), who are characterized by language problems, but often have problems in other cognitive domains as well. Methods & Procedures: In the current research, a comparison was made between a story retelling task ( The Bus Story) and a story generation task ( The Frog Story) in a group of children with SLI ( n= 34) and a typically developing group ( n= 38) from the same age range. In addition to the two narrative tasks, sustained auditory attention (TEA-Ch) and verbal working memory (WISC digit span and the Dutch version of the CVLT-C word list recall) were measured. Correlations were computed between the narrative, the memory and the attention scores. Outcomes & Results: A group comparison showed that the children with SLI scored significantly worse than the typically developing children on several narrative measures as well as on sustained auditory attention and verbal working memory. A within-subjects comparison of the scores on the two narrative tasks showed a contrast between the tasks on several narrative measures. Furthermore, correlational analyses showed that, on the level of plot structure, the story generation task correlated with sustained auditory attention, while the story retelling task correlated with word list recall. Mean length of utterance (MLU) on the other hand correlated with digit span but not with sustained auditory attention. Conclusions: While children with SLI have problems with narratives in general, their performance is also dependent on the specific elicitation task used for research or diagnostics. Various narrative tasks generate different scores and are differentially correlated to cognitive skills like attention and memory, making the selection of a given task crucial in the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]