Abstract
Background: Content, Form and Use are three basic dimensions of language (Bloom & Lahey, 1978). Impairment in language form of children with language disorders is well documented, while deficit in semantic content received relatively less attention. Some suggested that a universal set of semantic content categories (SCCs) in young children served as valid indicator in language acquisition (Stockman, 1996). This study aims to compare the acquisition of SCCs between Mandarin-speaking children with and without language difficulties, and explore the intervention direction by considerations from both syntactic and semantic perspective.
Methods: Mandarin-speaking children with typical development (TD, n=82), language difficulties (LD, n=4) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, n=3), all aged 2 to 5, were recruited in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The LD and ASD participants were reported to encounter language difficulties that affects everyday functioning. Video-recorded language samples obtained using standardized procedures were transcribed orthographically and annotated with part of speech and 21 SCCs (Lahey, 1988). Age range of acquisition for each SCC were determined according to 90% emergence criterion within the whole age group.
Results: Results indicated that TD children’s age is correlated with MLU and the number of different SCC. All LD children were found to have shorter MLU (below 1 SD), while all ASD children had comparable MLU comparing with age-matched peers. Three LD and two ASD children showed disruptions in acquiring certain SCCs.
Conclusion: Shorter MLU among children with LD observed was consistent with previous findings about syntactic deficits of the group. The difficulties in acquiring certain SCCs among LD observed suggest its potential role in identifying children with language difficulties. Mandarin-speaking children with LD may demonstrate different language manifestations syntactically and semantically. Hence, intervention with a balanced consideration of the two domains is suggested. Theoretical implications will also be discussed.
Methods: Mandarin-speaking children with typical development (TD, n=82), language difficulties (LD, n=4) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, n=3), all aged 2 to 5, were recruited in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The LD and ASD participants were reported to encounter language difficulties that affects everyday functioning. Video-recorded language samples obtained using standardized procedures were transcribed orthographically and annotated with part of speech and 21 SCCs (Lahey, 1988). Age range of acquisition for each SCC were determined according to 90% emergence criterion within the whole age group.
Results: Results indicated that TD children’s age is correlated with MLU and the number of different SCC. All LD children were found to have shorter MLU (below 1 SD), while all ASD children had comparable MLU comparing with age-matched peers. Three LD and two ASD children showed disruptions in acquiring certain SCCs.
Conclusion: Shorter MLU among children with LD observed was consistent with previous findings about syntactic deficits of the group. The difficulties in acquiring certain SCCs among LD observed suggest its potential role in identifying children with language difficulties. Mandarin-speaking children with LD may demonstrate different language manifestations syntactically and semantically. Hence, intervention with a balanced consideration of the two domains is suggested. Theoretical implications will also be discussed.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Not published / presented only - Jul 2023 |
| Event | 19th International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association Conference - Salzburg, Austria Duration: 4 Jul 2023 → 7 Jul 2023 |
Conference
| Conference | 19th International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association Conference |
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| Country/Territory | Austria |
| City | Salzburg |
| Period | 4/07/23 → 7/07/23 |