Differentiating First Language Loss from Language Impairment in Bilingual Children

区分双语儿童的第一语言丧失和语言障碍

基本信息

批准号：
10053232
负责人：
Anny P. Castilla-Earls
金额：
$ 17.26万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2016
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2016-12-06 至 2022-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

Abstract This research proposal seeks to advance our current knowledge on the identification of language impairments in bilingual children by examining the differences in patterns of language growth and cognitive/processing skills between bilingual children experiencing first language loss and those with language disorders using retrospective and prospective longitudinal approaches. Hispanic children are disproportionally underrepresented in special education programs and are less likely than other children to be identified as having speech and language impairments. This disproportionality might be due to the difficulty experienced by speech-language pathologists in identifying whether variations in language performance constitute a language disorder or a characteristic of typical bilingual learning. The main challenge in identifying language impairments in Spanish-speaking children lies in our limited understanding of their language growth patterns since most of these children experience a drastic shift in primary language exposure and use from Spanish (home language) to English (school language). This shift in language exposure often results in a temporary period of time in which their Spanish skills are no longer developing and their English skills are not fully developed yet, due to limitations in input rather than learning capabilities. This poses a critical problem for the accurate identification of language disorders in this population because both typically developing bilingual children experiencing first language loss (i.e., a decline in their first language skills due to limitations in input) and bilingual children with language disorders show low grammatical skills in both languages. It is imperative to examine the differences between these two groups of children so that early and accurate identification is possible. The PI has a strong background in language development and assessment in bilingual children, but lacks the necessary methodological skill set to conduct prospective and retrospective longitudinal studies, and the background knowledge to fully understand the role of cognitive/processing skills in language acquisition. The proposed training plan has the following learning objectives: 1. Design and execute retrospective studies to differentiate patterns of language growth between children experiencing first language loss and bilingual children with language impairments using existent longitudinal databases (Mentor: Francis); 2. Develop a strong understanding of cognitive/processing mechanisms and their role in language acquisition (Mentor: Hernandez); 3. Design and execute an innovative prospective study to differentiate patterns of language growth and cognitive/processing skills between children experiencing first language loss and bilingual children with language impairments using clinical samples (mentors: Francis and Lesaux); and, 4. Transition to scientific independence (Mentors: Fletcher and Francis). This study will improve the accuracy of language assessment practices for Spanish-speaking children by differentiating patterns of first language loss from language impairments.

抽象的这项研究建议旨在提高我们当前关于语言障碍识别的知识在双语儿童中，通过检查语言增长和认知/处理方式的差异双语儿童经历单语言丧失与使用语言障碍的孩子之间的技能回顾性和前瞻性纵向方法。西班牙裔孩子不成比例在特殊教育计划中的代表性不足，比其他儿童被确定为言语和语言障碍。这种不成比例可能是由于遇到的困难语音语言病理学家在识别语言表现的变化是否构成语言时是否构成语言疾病或典型双语学习的特征。识别语言的主要挑战讲西班牙语的孩子的障碍在于我们对他们语言成长模式的有限理解由于这些孩子中的大多数经历了主要语言曝光的急剧转变，并从西班牙语中使用了（家庭语言）英语（学校语言）。语言暴露的这种转变通常会导致暂时他们的西班牙技能不再发展且英语技能的时间不完全由于输入而不是学习能力的限制，开发了。这对准确识别该人群中的语言障碍，因为既通常都在发展双语遭受第一语言丧失的儿童（即由于输入的限制，其第一语言技能的下降）具有语言障碍的双语儿童在两种语言中都表现出较低的语法技能。这是必须的检查这两组儿童之间的差异，以便早期和准确的识别是可能的。 PI在双语儿童中具有强大的语言发展和评估背景，但是缺乏进行前瞻性和回顾性纵向研究的必要方法学技能，以及背景知识充分了解认知/处理能力在语言获取中的作用。拟议的培训计划具有以下学习目标：1。设计和执行回顾性研究区分语言增长模式，在经历第一语言丧失和双语的儿童之间具有语言障碍的儿童使用存在的纵向数据库（导师：弗朗西斯）； 2。开发对认知/加工机制及其在语言获取中的作用有深刻的了解（导师：埃尔南德斯）； 3。设计和执行创新的前瞻性研究，以区分语言模式经历第一语言丧失和双语儿童的儿童之间的成长和认知/处理技巧使用临床样本的语言障碍（导师：弗朗西斯和莱索克斯）； 4。过渡到科学独立性（导师：弗莱彻（Fletcher）和弗朗西斯（Francis））。这项研究将提高语言的准确性通过将第一语言损失的模式与说西班牙语儿童的评估惯例与语言障碍。