Gesture comprehension remains understudied, particularly in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have difficulties in gesture production. Using a novel gesture comprehension task, Study 1 examined how 2- to 4-year-old typically-developing (TD) children comprehend types of gestures and gesture-speech combinations, and showed better…

Purpose: This work describes community-based participatory research (CBPR) to support language and literacy development with Pre-K and kindergarten African American boys. Method: The aim and goals of the project were designed using the CBPR model. Interventionists were trained with researcher-designed videos. Interventionist fidelity to training…

This study investigated to what extent the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-4) is a reliable tool for measuring vocabulary knowledge of English as a second language (L2), and to what extent L1 characteristics affect test outcomes. The PPVT-4 was administered to Dutch pupils in six different age groups (4-15 years old) who were or were not…

There has been a plethora of studies investigating the effect of semantic relatedness on second language (L2) word learning.However, most prior studies failed to control for the lexical properties of target words, which may be responsible for the mixed results yielded. This study, therefore, sets out to revisit this issue by controlling for L1…

The article presents an empirical study that investigates the single- and cross-modality relationships between different dimensions of receptive vocabulary knowledge and language skills, as well as the importance of academic vocabulary knowledge in academic listening and reading comprehension. An Updated Vocabulary Levels Test (UVLT), a Vietnamese…

Purpose: The present clinical focus draws on an intrinsic case study to provide a thick description of the communication profile of John, a 9-year-old minimally verbal autistic student. Method: Specifically, traditional behavioral assessments, classroom video observations, and semistructured interviews were used to gather information regarding…

Hundreds of millions of language learners around the globe study a second language with popular apps such as Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, Busuu, and Babbel. This study examined the effectiveness of one app, Babbel, for developing both receptive linguistic knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, as well as oral communicative ability in Spanish as a second…

The song 'La ballata dell'amore cieco (o della vanità)' (1966), by Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André (1940-1999), offers students opportunities to practise their language skills, stimulate their cultural appreciation, and expand their knowledge of a musical and poetic form (the ballad), while reflecting on the close connection between…

Purpose: Correlates of receptive-expressive vocabulary size discrepancies may provide insights into why language development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) deviates from typical language development and ultimately improve intervention outcomes. Method: We indexed receptive-expressive vocabulary size discrepancies of 65 initially…

Background: Language disorder and associated vocabulary difficulties can persist into adolescence, and can impact on long-term life outcomes. Previous reviews have shown that a variety of intervention techniques can successfully enhance students' vocabulary skills; however, none has investigated vocabulary intervention specifically for adolescents…

There can be significant diversity in the language experience of minority language children, and in the levels of proficiency reached. The declining numbers of children now exposed to Irish include those from homes where only/mainly Irish is spoken, those with only one Irish-speaking parent, and children from homes where one/both parent(s) speak…

Before infants produce words, they can discriminate changes in motion event components such as manner (how an action is performed) and path (trajectory of an action). Individual differences in nonlinguistic event categorization are related to children's later verb comprehension (Konishi, Stahl, Golinkoff, & Hirsh-Pasek, 2016). We asked: (a) Do…

This study examines relations between the first language (L1) and second language (L2) in reading and writing for 211 upper middle school Korean students learning English as a foreign language. Results using path analysis suggest that L1 ability is a significant independent predictor of L2 ability in both reading and writing, providing evidence of…

Social mastery motivation and parental response are important correlates of children's vocabulary and self-regulation skills, but little research has examined their relationships collectively. This study investigated the direct relationships among social mastery motivation (active interaction and positive affect frequencies), parental response,…

This study investigated the learnability of multiple word knowledge aspects and the relationship between the word knowledge aspects. A total of 261 Thai high school students were measured on receptive and productive word knowledge aspects: word parts, the form-meaning link, and collocations. The current findings indicated that word parts are…