Disfluencies such as pauses, "um"s, and "uh"s are common interruptions in the speech stream. Previous work probing memory for disfluent speech shows memory benefits for disfluent compared to fluent materials. Complementary evidence from studies of language production and comprehension have been argued to show that different…

Computational models of reading have tended to focus on the cognitive requirements of mapping among written, spoken, and meaning representations of individual words in adult readers. Consequently, the alignment of these computational models with behavioural studies of reading development has to date been limited. Models of reading have provided us…

Purpose: In this clinical focus article, we discuss the nature of critical thinking, its importance for adolescents, and its interaction with later language development. We also introduce a language arts program, "Philosophy for Adolescents." The program aims to support critical thinking, narrative and expository discourse, and the use…

While some guiding principles have been proposed for the selection and presentation of vocabulary, it is unclear whether these notions have been applied systematically, particularly in ways that highlight cultural nuances. To explore the cultural foundations of vocabulary, this study garnered prototypical words for Hexagonal French (the French of…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the use of language sample analysis and standardized norm-referenced assessment in early childhood intervention research focused on language outcomes. A sample of data from a larger randomized control trial was used to explore interrater reliability between two independent transcribers, provide a…

Purpose: Vocabulary, grammar, and discourse skills represent distinct dimensions of language ability in young children. Research suggests that individuals with hearing loss often have difficulties with language skills as compared to their hearing counterparts. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to analyze the effectiveness of…

The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) are widely used, parent-report instruments of language acquisition. Here, we focus on the word-inventory sections of the instruments, and show two different approaches to modeling CDI data, based on real-world needs. First, we show that Words & Gestures data collected…

We investigated the comorbidity of low language and reading skills in 6- to 8-year-old monolingual Polish-speaking children (N = 962) using three different approaches: norming data to determine the prevalence of co-morbid difficulties, group comparisons of profiles on key cognitive-linguistic measures, and a case series analysis examining the…

Spoken narrative skills are crucial to the social and academic success of young people; however, research indicates that this may be an area of challenge for autistic adolescents. Most previous studies have used narrative elicitation tasks that incorporate visual support, and little is known about how autistic adolescents perform on less…

This study investigated the complex relationship between false-belief (FB) understanding, structural language and pragmatic communication in typically developing children. A total of 78 Finnish children, aged from 4 to 6 years, including an equal number of boys and girls, participated in this study. In the first instance, the study explored the…

The study aimed to analyse the production of plosive sounds by trilingual speakers of L1 Polish - L2 English - L3 Norwegian. The main objective was to trace any changes in the VOT production of fortis and lenis stops in all three languages (Polish, English and Norwegian) produced by novice L3 learners with a focus on possible cross-linguistic…

Purpose: There is solid evidence that an early age at cochlear implantation, which reduces the period of auditory deprivation, positively impacts early spoken language development. However, there is an urgent need for more research to understand the long-term effects of early implantation on higher linguistic skills, such as metaphor…

Purpose: Early identification of diverging developmental trajectories is important to optimize communication interventions for children with cerebral palsy (CP). The aim of this study was to examine if communication profiles at 2 years of age predicted speech, language, and communication outcomes at 9-10 years of age in children with CP. Method:…

Mental State Talk (MST) is utterances describing invisible mental aspects. The first aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of Parental MST and Child MST and their concurrent association in a Swedish population, and the second aim was to relate these MST measures to the children's general language abilities. Seventy-seven dyads…

Background: Poor intelligibility is common in young children with developmental language disorders (DLDs). Relatedly, children with DLD and poor intelligibility, like children with DLD solely, have often also difficulties in other aspects of language abilities: such as making grammatical and cohesive sentences and telling narratives with an…