Individual differences in language acquisition by young children with cochlear implants and implications for a concept of ‘sensitive phase’

When acquiring language, children must not only learn the meanings of words, but also how to interpret them in context. For example, children must learn both the logical semantics of the scalar quantifier some and its pragmatically enriched meaning: ‘some but not all’. Some studies have shown that this “scalar implicature” that some implies ‘some but not all’ poses a challenge even to nine-year-olds, while others find success by age three. We asked whether reports of children’s early successes might be due to the computation of exclusion inferences (like contrast or mutual exclusivity) rather than an ability to compute scalar implicatures. We found that young children (N=214; ages 4;0-7;11) sometimes prefer to compute symmetrical exclusion inferences rather than asymmetric scalar inferences when interpreting quantifiers. This suggests that some apparent successes in computing scalar implicature can actually be explained by less sophisticated exclusion inferences.

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How Effective Is Auditory–Verbal Therapy (AVT) for Building Language Development of Children with Cochlear Implants? A Systematic Review

Life ◽

10.3390/life11030239 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 239

Author(s):

Paris Binos ◽

Elina Nirgianaki ◽

George Psillas

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Young Children ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Research Question ◽

Voice Quality ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Pubmed Database ◽

Mainstream Society ◽

Meta Analyses ◽

Auditory Verbal Therapy

This systematic review sheds light on the effectiveness of auditory–verbal therapy (AVT) outcomes in children with cochlear implants (CIs). The presented outcome is based on research findings from the last 10 years. The systematic review was designed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and Critical Appraisal of Treatment Evidence (CATE) checklist. Specific keywords were chosen based on the research question and searched on the PubMed database. All searched papers were analysed based on specific exclusion criteria and classified into four evidence levels. The results revealed that children who participated in AV therapy can achieve linguistic skills at the same level as their hearing peers. Voice quality seemed positively affected, placing young children with CIs in the normal range for receptive vocabulary development. In contrast, reading skills seemed less benefited. AV therapy seems to contribute to integration into mainstream society. Despite the recorded speech and language improvements of young children with CIs, the aim of AV therapy is still not fulfilled. AV therapy can be seen as the best clinical practice for young children with CIs till now, but the lack of well-controlled studies is undermining.

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Studying individual differences in the social environment to better understand language learning and processing

Linguistics Vanguard ◽

10.1515/lingvan-2016-0015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (s1) ◽

Author(s):

Shiri Lev-Ari

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Language Learning ◽

Social Environment ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Linguistic Performance ◽

The Social

AbstractPeople learn language from their social environment. Therefore, individual differences in the input that their social environment provides could influence their linguistic performance. Nevertheless, investigation of the role of individual differences in input on performance has been mostly restricted to first and second language acquisition. In this paper I argue that individual differences in input can influence linguistic performance even in adult native speakers. Specifically, differences in input can affect performance by influencing people’s knowledgebase, by modulating their processing manner, and by shaping expectations. Therefore, studying the role that individual differences in input play can improve our understanding of how language is learned, processed and represented.

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The role of production practice in lexical and phonological development – a commentary on Stoel-Gammon's ‘Relationships between lexical and phonological development in young children’*

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000910000504 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 41-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

MARILYN VIHMAN ◽

TAMAR KEREN-PORTNOY

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Young Children ◽

Current Work ◽

Phonological Development ◽

Phonological Learning ◽

Production Practice ◽

The Relationship

Carol Stoel-Gammon has made a real contribution in bringing together two fields that are not generally jointly addressed. Like Stoel-Gammon, we have long focused on individual differences in phonological development (e.g. Vihman, Ferguson & Elbert, 1986; Vihman, Boysson-Bardies, Durand & Sundberg, 1994; Keren-Portnoy, Majorano & Vihman, 2008). And like her, we have been closely concerned with the relationship between lexical and phonological learning. Accordingly, we will focus our discussion on two areas covered by Stoel-Gammon (this issue) on which our current work may shed some additional light.

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Sound Localization Ability of Young Children With Bilateral Cochlear Implants

Otology & Neurotology ◽

10.1097/mao.0b013e3180430179 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 479-485 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Jan-Willem Beijen ◽

Ad F. M. Snik ◽

Emmanuel A. M. Mylanus

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Sound Localization ◽

Bilateral Cochlear Implants ◽

Localization Ability

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Pronoun reversals: who, when, and why?

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000900008485 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 573-589 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Philip S. Dale ◽

Catherine Crain-Thoreson

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Risk Taking ◽

Contextual Factors ◽

Noun Phrases ◽

Second Person ◽

Pronoun Use ◽

Processing Resources ◽

Unstructured Play

ABSTRACTSeventeen of a sample of 30 precocious talkers aged 1;8 produced at least one pronoun reversal (I/you) during unstructured play. This finding led to an examination of the role of cognitive and linguistic individual differences as well as contextual factors and processing complexity as determinants of pronoun reversal. Contrary to predictions derived from previous hypotheses, there were few differences between reversers and non-reversers, other than higher use of second person forms by reversers. Reversals were more likely to occur in certain contexts: semantically reversible predicates with two noun phrases, and in imitations (though the rate of imitation was lower overall in reversers). We propose that pronoun reversals commonly result from a failure to perform a deictic shift, which is especially likely when children's psycholinguistic processing resources are taxed. Children who did not produce any pronoun reversals tended to avoid pronoun use, especially second person forms. Overt reversal may thus reflect a risk-taking approach to language acquisition, which may be particularly characteristic of precocious children.

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