language disorders midterm

psycholinguistics

study of language is mentally represented and processed

• important for SLP: helps explain why a child makes an error, not just what the error is

language knowledge

what a child learned about language

real-time language processing

what a child can do with language in the moment

clinical performance

language behaviors we observe in a real situation

a child knows ‘before’ but cannot follow long directions. why?

possible processing load, sequencing, working memory, or syntax difficulties

phonology

perceiving and organizing speech sounds

semantics

storing and retrieving word meanings

morphology

noticing and using grammatical markers

syntax

understanding relationships between words and word order

working memory

holding sentence parts in your mind while processing them

application:

• a child forgets the first part of a long direction before hearing the end.

• why? the child may struggle to hold information i their mind while processing the rest of the direction

phonological memory

retaining unfamiliar sound sequences

application:

• a child struggles to repeat an unfamiliar sequence of sounds

• why? the child may struggle with retaining unfamiliar sound sequences

processing speed

analyzing language as speech unfolds

application:

• child understands a short sentence but struggles when the teacher speaks quickly.

• why? child has difficulty analyzing language as speech unfolds

attention to cues

noticing important grammatical information

application:

• child misses the word “is” in a sentence.

• why? the child doesn’t notice the grammatical information

integration

combining vocabulary, grammar, meaning, and context

application:

• child struggles to combine vocabulary, grammar, and context to understand a message

• why? the child has difficulty combining different types of language information

when does language become harder to process?

when it is long, fast, complex, unsupported, or dependent on sequence

leonards surface hypothesis

brief, unstressed grammatical markers can be especially difficult for children with DLD

low salience

a language marker is less noticeable because it is brief or unstressed

which past-tense marker may be difficult?

-ed (like jumped)

application:

• a child says “yesterday the boy jump”.

• what grammatical markers are missing? past tense “-ed” in “jumped”. this is because the child might struggle with perceiving, encoding, retrieving, or producing the weak grammatical marker

which third person singular marker may be difficult?

-s (like runs)

application:

• the child says “the boy run”

• what grammatical markers are missing? third person singular -s

which plural marker may be difficult?

-s ( like dogs)

application:

• child says “three dog” instead of “three dogs”. this is because the plural -s is a brief grammatical marker

what articles are difficult?

A and The

which auxillaries may be difficult?

is, are, and was

Complex sentences: A child hears, “point to the dog after you touch the cat”. what makes this difficult?

the child must process the first noun, remember the sequence, and interpret “after”

Complex sentences: why might a child struggle with a long sentence containing sevral people?

the sentence may require processing an embedded clause, pronoun reference, temporal relationships, and multiple characters

Complex sentences: why might a child with weak narrative retells struggle?

possible difficulties with syntax, semantics, pragmatics/discourse, sequencing, working memory, or integration

what should an SLP analyze when a child makes a language error?

analyze the processing demands behind the error, not just the error itself

how can an SLP reduce processing demands?

use shorter units, repetition, extra time, and visual supports

application:

• a child struggles with long directions

• the SLP should use shorter units, repetition, extra time, and visual supports

focused stimulation

repeatedly exposing the child to a targeted grammatical form

recast

restating a child’s message using correct grammatical form

application:

• a child says “yesterday he walk”

• the SLP should use recast by saying “yes, yesterday he walked”, showing the correct past-tense form

why use graphic organizers?

to help organize and support language information

application:

• a child struggles to remember story events when retelling

• a graphic organizer, visual supports, and structured narrative retell could help with this.

constrastive modeling

modeling contrast forms to make differences noticeable

acoustic highlighting

making a target form stand out in spoken language

support word retrieval?

use semantic mapping and phonological cues

support sentence formulation?

use sentence frames and narrative retells

goal of controlled complexity?

gradually increase language demands as the child becomes more successful.

• an SLP should not simplify all language for a child. instead reduce demands at first, the gradually increase the complexity

Bloom and Leahy Model

explains language through form, content, and use

Form

how language is structured

1. phonology: sound system

2. morphology: word parts and grammatical markers

3. syntax: word order and sentence structure

application:

• the child says “Doggy eat” instead of “The dog is eating”. the child is able to get their idea across, but the sentence is grammatically incomplete. there may be a problem with form here, mainly morphology and syntax

content

what language means:

• vocabulary

• concepts

• semantic realtionships

application:

• child says “I did that thing with the stuff”. The sentence is basic, but the message is vague. the child may need more precise vocabulary to express the idea clearly.

Use

how language is used socially:

• requesting

• commenting

• asking questions

• turn-taking

• topic maintenance

• repairing communication breakdowns

application:

• a child has a strong vocabulary and grammar but often changes the subject and struggles to adjust their language to the listener.

ex: a child says, “yesterday, he walked to school”. What component is affected?

Form. the child omits the past-tense -ed. the child may have difficulty with grammatical morphology

ex: a child speaks in complete sentences but uses vague words and struggles to explain what things mean. which component may be affected?

Content. the child may have difficulty with vocabulary, concepts, or semantic relationships

ex: a child uses correct grammar but interrupts others and struggles to maintain conversations. which component may be affected?

Use. the child may have difficulty with turn-taking and topic maintenance

can a child have strong grammar but weak social communication?

Yes. they can have strong form but difficulty with use

why should an SLP examine all 3 components?

Because language includes structure, meaning, and social purpose. looking at only one component may miss other communication difficulties.

what 3 questions should an SLP ask when analyzing language?

• content: what does the child mean?

• form: how is the message structured?

• use: how is the message being used?

what does “Doggy eat” tell us about form?

the utterance is short and has immature sentence structure. it is missing grammatical elements, like an article and auxiliary verb

• Mature version: “The dog is eating”

what does “doggy eat” tell us about content?

the meaning is understandable. the child communicates an agent-action relationship: the dog is eating

what does “doggy eat” tell us about use?

its communicative purpose depends on the context. it should be a comment, answer, a request, or a pretend play statement

why shouldn’t you interrupt an utterance based on grammar alone?

because grammar doesn’t tell the whole story. you must also consider the meaning and communicative purpose

ex: a child says “two cat” instead of “two cats”. which component is most directly involved

form: the child omits the plural “-s” a grammatical marker

ex: a child says “give me the thing” because they cannot remember or select the specific word they want. which component might be involved?

content. the difficulty may involve retrieving the precise vocabulary needed to express the intended meaning.

ex: a child has excellent vocabulary and produces grammatically correct sentences but struggles to take turns during conversations. which component is most directly involved?

use. the difficulty involves social communication and turn-taking

ex: a child says, “doggy eat” while playing with a toy dog. can you conclude that the child has difficulties with all 3 components?

no, you need more info. the sentence suggests immature form, but the child may communicate the intended content clearly. use depends on the communicative context.

ex: a child tells a story with correct grammar and appropriate vocabulary but changes the topic repeatedly, making it difficult for the listener to follow. which component may be affected?

use. the child may have difficulty with topic maintenance and organizing communication for the listner.

an SLP wants to determine whether a child understands word meanings, constructs sentences correctly, and uses language appropriately with others. which model could organize this evaluation?

the Bloom and Leahy Model. it organizes languages into form, content, and use