Language and Literacy Connections and School-Age Language Disorders
Foundations of Language-Based Reading Disorders (LBRD)
Chapter 10 provides the foundational overview of the school-age child concerning language and literacy connections.
The terminology for children with language disorders is diverse and has been the subject of international debate among experts. Common terms include:
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).
Specific Language Impairment (SLI).
Language-Based Reading Disorders (LBRD).
For the purposes of this study, the term Language-Based Reading Disorders is used specifically to acknowledge the direct, inseparable link between language and literacy in both assessment and intervention.
Learning Disabilities vs. Language-Based Reading Disorders
Learning Disability is a broad, overarching category that can manifest in various areas, including math, writing, and language.
Language-Based Reading Disorder is a specific sub-type of learning disability.
Relationship structure: Not everyone with a learning disability has a language-based reading disorder, but everyone with a language-based reading disorder is classified as having a learning disability.
Visual-motor deficits: Some children struggle with the visual aspect of observing information and transcribing it, which is distinct from a core language deficit.
The "Language for Learning" Shift
By the or grade at the latest, a critical developmental shift occurs where students move from "learning language" to "using language to learn."
In reading, this is described as the transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn."
A very short window exists for providing explicit instruction and support. Once this window closes, students are expected to have mastered these foundations to access the curriculum.
Referrals for support services, such as Response to Intervention (RTI) or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), often peak during this period because of the increased literacy demands.
Interconnectedness of Language and Literacy
Literacy is a relatively modern cultural development. Historically, literacy was not a universal expectation; even two generations ago, it was common for individuals in rural areas to sign their names with an "X."
Both spoken and written language are expressive forms of communication used to share internal thoughts.
Comparison of modes:
Spoken language (e.g., a casual conversation) is often informal and autonomic.
Written language (e.g., an academic reflection) is typically more formal, extensive, and uses more complex forms.
Spoken language is formed in the autonomic part of the brain and is often more automatic. In contrast, literacy requires a specific, structured learning model.
Language deficits that might be masked in casual speech often reappear in writing because the student cannot choose their own format or simple vocabulary when given a specific, complex prompt.
The Simple View of Reading: Categorization Matrix
Students are categorized based on two axes: Language Comprehension and Word Recognition.
High Language Comprehension + Poor Word Recognition: Typically diagnosed as Dyslexia. This is generally not a core language deficit; if the visual or reading requirement is removed (e.g., via listening), the student often understands the vocabulary and content.
High Language Comprehension + High Word Recognition: Defined as a Typical Reader.
Poor Language Comprehension + Poor Word Recognition: Mixed decoding and comprehension deficit. The decoding issues may relate to phonological awareness, while the comprehension issues are heavily linked to language.
Poor Language Comprehension + High Word Recognition: Specific comprehension deficit.
Case Study: A student in or grade demonstrated pristine word recognition, flawless fluency, intonation, and pausing, yet had zero comprehension of the text.
Connection to Autism: In some individuals with autism, the right hemisphere may take over decoding (handling visual recognition and prosody) without connecting to the language centers in the brain, leading to this profile.
Components of Word Recognition
Alphabetic Principle: The foundation of word recognition, involving the realization that sounds have direct connections to symbols.
Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: The understanding that words are made of individual sounds and the ability to manipulate those sounds. This is a key area for early intervention to prevent future literacy struggles.
Decoding: Breaking a word down to sound it out.
Sight Words: Words that cannot be sounded out logically (e.g., "ough" words like "though," "through," or "tough").
Dyslexia: Primarily viewed as a deficit in the phonological awareness component of word recognition.
Strands of Skilled Reading (Scarborough's Rope)
Word Recognition (Bottom Strands): Includes phonological awareness (syllables, phonemes), decoding (spelling-sound correspondence), and sight recognition. Mastery leads to automaticity.
Language Comprehension (Top Strands): Includes background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures (syntax and morphology), verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge (understanding different types of books and purposes for reading).
Linguistic and Cognitive Deficits in LBRD
Phonology
Higher prevalence of speech sound disorders.
Underlying language impairments often persist even after speech sounds tasks are resolved.
Poor phonological memory and working memory: Difficulty holding onto sounds or information long enough to determine its relevance.
Syntax
Students often lack the foundational "frame" for syntax, leading to less complex sentence structures.
The "Subordination Index" (use of conjunctions) is typically lower.
Breakdowns occur as the complexity of the task or sentence increases.
Morphology
Errors are most common in features that are less auditorily noticeable, such as the voiceless "s" or unemphasized word endings.
These errors are highly prevalent in writing, even if the student uses the markers correctly in oral speech.
Semantics
Vocabulary: Smaller, less complex vocabulary. Students struggle with moving from concrete concepts (e.g., table) to abstract concepts (e.g., freedom).
Word Mapping: Typical learners connect new words to an existing web (e.g., a cruise ship connects to boat). LBRD students may map concepts in isolation (e.g., boat, submarine, and canoe are stored separately), making retrieval difficult.
Word Retrieval: Slower processing time. While teachers typically wait only to seconds for a response, LBRD students may require a second delay or longer to decode, retrieve, and produce information.
Pragmatics
Pragmatic difficulties often go beyond what structural language skills would suggest.
Challenges include joining groups, repair (knowing when or how to fix a communication breakdown), and requesting repair when they do not understand others.
Difficulty reading subtle verbal and facial cues.
Metalinguistic Awareness
Definition: The ability to think about and speak about language as an entity separate from the act of speaking.
Example: Analyzing the sentence "My sister was happy as a lark when she was given the prestigious award from the professor."
Understanding figurative language ("happy as a lark").
Using context clues to infer semantic meaning (e.g., inferring "prestigious" means something good/exclusive because it is associated with an "award").
This skill is essential for advanced reading and writing (e.g., deciding to use an adjective like "blue" before "shirt" for detail).
Tiered Vocabulary and Knowledge Access
Tier 1: Basic, everyday language ( to words) used in casual conversation.
Tier 2: High-utility words that may have multiple meanings (e.g., "duck").
Tier 3: Specific, high-level academic/technical language.
LBRD students often sound fine in Tier 1 contexts but break down in Tier 2 and Tier 3, which rely heavily on literacy for acquisition.
Background Knowledge: Essential for comprehension. Gaps in knowledge (due to lack of exposure, poverty, or medical fragility) can impact reading more than a language disorder itself.
Socio-Emotional and Behavioral Characteristics
Communication breakdowns can lead to frustration and anger in students.
Immaturity: Students with LBRD often present as more socially/emotionally immature than their peers.
Teacher Perceptions: Teachers may misidentify LBRD students as "forgetful," "poor listeners," or "uninterested."
Compensation Strategies: Some students cope by looking around and copying peers' work to stay on track, or by nodding as if they understand when they do not.
Questions & Discussion
Question: Why is it that students with LBRD are often not referred until they are doing literacy-based activities like reading comprehension and writing, rather than when they were just talking?
Response: Literacy requires a specific type of learning model, whereas spoken language is formed in the autonomic, automatic part of the brain. Deficits that disappear in spoken language often show up in writing because students get to choose what they want to talk about orally, but they cannot avoid specific word and structure requirements when given a writing prompt. We are usually asking them to write about things much harder than what is for lunch.
Question: Regarding the child mentioned who had apraxia of speech, what kind of program was used to improve her intelligibility?
Response: The focus was on building the child's auditory system and sound-symbol connection using various clinical programs. The goal was to build awareness of all sounds in words and improve the child's self-monitoring of her own speech production. Biofeedback can also be a useful tool for helping children match sound patterns.
Question: What are the cultural considerations for narratives?
Response: Cultural expectations for storytelling vary. For example, in many Spanish-speaking cultures, the social interaction of talking is prioritized over a linear path to the end or the meaning of the story. If a clinician is from a background that expects a clear "point" to a story, they must be aware of these differing cultural norms to avoid misdiagnosis.
Question: What was that app you mentioned for learning through documentaries?
Response: It is an app that starts with an "S," possibly French. It provides a way to build background knowledge through a different modality than traditional reading.