Language sample analysis (LSA) has been called the "gold standard" for clinical language assessment with children learning more than one language. The research literature discussing this clinical tool with bilingual children has grown substantially in recent years. This article reviews and synthesizes the literature on LSA in order to…

Background: Although there is a growing body of literature on cognitive and language processing in bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD), there is a major gap in the evidence for language intervention. Critically, speech-language therapists are often required to make clinical decisions for language intervention on specific…

Purpose: The purpose of this scoping review was to examine research studies relating to autistic students in learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) to outline potential research agendas and to inform EAL educators of current related issues. Methodology: PRISMA-ScR protocol outlined by Tricco et al. (2018) was followed when selecting the…

Purpose: This study aims to understand the effect of therapies on dual language children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a range of bilingual language outcomes, compare with second-language-only therapy and determine whether there is any cross-linguistic transfer. Methods: A systematic review of English articles in 10 electronic…

Purpose: Multilingual children are disproportionately represented on speech pathology caseloads, in part due to the limited ability of traditional language assessments to accurately capture multilingual children's language abilities. This systematic review evaluates the evidence for identification of language disorder in multilingual children…

Children who begin school with proficient language skills are more likely to develop adequate reading comprehension abilities and achieve academic success than children who struggle with poor language skills in their early years. Individual language difficulties, environmental factors related to socioeconomic status (SES), and having the…

We review studies that examined whether children who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and who are from culturally and linguistically diverse communities benefit more from being exposed to one versus two or more languages. Fourteen articles fit our criteria. The findings suggest that children with ASD benefit from richer…

We review and synthesize empirical evidence at the intersection of two populations: children with language learning impairment (LLI) and children from immigrant families who learn a single language from birth and a second language beginning in early childhood. LLI is a high incidence disorder that, in recent years, has been referred to by…

Aphasia as a multifaceted language disorder associated with the complicated links between language and brain has been and is of interest and significance to the stream of research in different disciplines including neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive studies and language acquisition. Along with explorations into the manifestations of…

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder that results in language-related symptoms at various discourse levels, ranging from semantics (e.g. inventing words and producing nonsensical strands of similar-sounding words) to pragmatics and higher-level functioning (e.g. too little or too much information given to interlocutors, and tangential…

A challenge of today's teacher preparation programmes is to educate teachers about families formed through international adoption and of the challenges they face, in order to meet their educational needs. This population has a unique developmental history affected by pre- and post-adoption conditions which stand to impact on learning experiences…

This article discusses the crucial role that working memory (WM) plays in learning a second language and analyzes cross-linguistic differences in digit span. It argues that word span and semantic span should be considered in WM analysis. A semantic system is proposed in the WM model for language. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This paper proposes that foreign-language learning problems result from difficulties with native-language learning. Research evidence is summarized showing that good and poor foreign-language learners exhibit significantly different levels of native-language skill and phonological processing ability. Potential challenges to this hypothesis are…

This article introduces the concept of a multi-component working memory. Emphasis is placed on the phonological loop component, its fractionation into a storage and processing component, and implications for native and second language learning. An overview of the visual spatial sketchpad and its possible role in language is provided. (Contains…

This article describes the characteristics of college students with language learning disorders and other at-risk students who have difficulty learning a foreign language. Research which points to deficits in native language abilities and poor phonological processing skills as the cause of foreign-language learning problems is discussed. (Contains…