The Development of Communication Across Timescales

How do young children learn to organize the statistics of communicative input across milliseconds and months? Developmental science has made progress in elucidating how infants learn patterns in language and how infant-directed speech is engineered to ease short-timescale processing, but less is known about how children link perceptual experiences across multiple levels of processing within an interaction (from syllables to stories) and across development. In this article, we propose that three domains of research—statistical summary, neural processing hierarchies, and neural coupling—will be fruitful in uncovering the dynamic exchange of information between children and adults, both in the moment and in aggregate. In particular, we discuss how the study of brain-to-brain and brain-to-behavior coupling between children and adults will advance the field’s understanding of how children’s neural representations become aligned with the increasingly complex statistics of communication across timescales.

Cosa deve sapere ogni pediatra sulla comunicazione aumentativa alternativa (CAA)

Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) is an area of clinical practice that tries to compensate for the temporary or permanent disability of individuals with complex communication needs. It uses gestures or signs and images and utilises a double communicative input, both visual and auditory. It is Augmentative because its main purpose is to enhance and expand ("augmentative" 1983 ISAAC) communication and language, supporting all the communicative potential of the person. It is Alternative because it uses an alternative method to traditional communication: it utilises gestures, signs, aids for communication and advanced technology, falling within Assistive Technology (AT). AAC users are mainly those with complex (cognitive and communicative) disabilities. Moreover, it is also used in all those temporary situations in which communication is hindered by traumatic factors (intensive care, first aid) or linked to the issue of integration / inclusion. For example, foreign people can benefit from the use of AAC in order to reduce discomfort in social relations and language learning. The Authors highlight the potential of AAC both on the basis of scientific and clinical evidence and describe the evolution of two clinical cases followed at the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit in Como (Italy).

The Case for Teaching Morphosyntax and Principles for Doing So

Researchers in the field of second language acquisition have made the study of morphosyntax one of their top priorities over the past four decades. In this paper we first look at six lines of SLA research that converge on the same conclusion: Most postpuberty learners have difficulty acquiring L2 morphosyntax and without an explicit focus on acquiring it, little acquisition will likely take place. The six lines of research are the sensitive period, L1 interference, the complexity of morphosyntax, the lack of salience of many morphosyntactic forms, studies conducted in naturalistic contexts, and studies conducted in classroom contexts. In the second part of the paper, we discuss seven principles for teaching morphosyntax that are placed into three categories: explicit form-focused instruction, communicative input, and communicative output. Ideally, these principles should be combined in an educational curriculum so that they are mutually reinforcing. 第二言語習得研究において半世紀近く重要視されてきた分野のひとつは形態統語研究分野である。この論文では、はじめに、思春期以降の学習者の第二言語の形態統語習得は困難であり、それらに明示的に重点をおかずに習得をすることは稀なことである、という結論へと収束する6つの系列分野の研究の結果を検討していく。その分野とは、敏感期、第一言語干渉、形態統語の複雑性、多くの形態統語における卓越性の欠如、自然的環境下における第二言語学習、そしてクラスルームにおける第二言語学習である。次に、明示的言語重視の指導、コミュニケーションによるインプット、コミュニケーションによるアウトプットの3分野に分類された７つの形態統語教育原理を考察する。これらの原理は、カリキュラムの中で組み合わされ、相互に強調されることが理想的である。

الخطوات المناسبة عند الطريقة المباشرة والسمعية الشفهية لتدريس مهارة الكلام

One of the objectives of teaching Arabic is to improve students' speaking skills. This purpose is to express the skill of speech and the way it is taught. In this case, the researcher wants to know the conditions related to the skill of speech, especially with regard to the way it is taught. The most appropriate model for the description process is the qualitative approach method, by means of the thesis or the case design. From this research, it is known that the teaching of speech skill uses several direct methods or oral auditory method of the communicative input. It is difficult to define a detailed definition of both methods if the term "direct" is simply a sign of meaning, but that term does not refer to the meaning of the method mentioned.

From "Communication Mode" to "Language Access Profile" in Research with DHH Children

For d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children, “communication mode” is often included as a predictor of performance across a wide range of developmental outcomes; however, the operationalization of communication mode is highly variable and often falls short of what would be ideal. Here, I argue that DHH children, their families and service providers, and the field as a whole would benefit from replacing the concept of “communication mode” with that of “language access profile”: a term that reflects the child’s cumulative experience with various types of communicative input, beginning at birth. Language access profiles are intended to capture the multidimensional and dynamic nature of DHH children’s early experiences with diverse types of communicative input. I present data from a study that presents a new method of estimating individual language access profiles. I also use hierarchical cluster analysis to organize individuals with similar profiles into coherent, data-driven groups. Results suggest that this is a promising approach with strong potential for use in diverse contexts, including education, clinical care, and research.

The type of shared activity shapes caregiver and infant communication

For the beginning language learner, communicative input is not based on linguistic codes alone. This study investigated two extralinguistic factors which are important for infants’ language development: the type of ongoing shared activity and non-verbal, deictic gestures. The natural interactions of 39 caregivers and their 12-month-old infants were recorded in two semi-natural contexts: a free play situation based on action and manipulation of objects, and a situation based on regard of objects, broadly analogous to an exhibit. Results show that the type of shared activity structures both caregivers’ language usage and caregivers’ and infants’ gesture usage. Further, there is a specific pattern with regard to how caregivers integrate speech with particular deictic gesture types. The findings demonstrate a pervasive influence of shared activities on human communication, even before language has emerged. The type of shared activity and caregivers’ systematic integration of specific forms of deictic gestures with language provide infants with a multimodal scaffold for a usage-based acquisition of language.

A Story-Based Model from Turkey to Foster Preschool Children's Communicative Input and Performance in the Process of Mother Tongue Acquisition

It is an undeniable fact that storytelling makes a remarkable contribution to the domains of child development at an early age since it is stated that storytelling is the original form of teaching. Firstly, the contributions and effects of storytelling techniques to the cultural, cognitive, linguistic, socio-emotional and psychological domains of children between three and eight years old are reviewed. Secondly, a story-based model is proposed for preschool teachers to apply effectively in the frame of before-implementing, while-implementing and post-implementing phases in mother tongue acquisition. Lastly, some suggestions are made for preschool teachers to implement the model to foster linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional domains of preschool children effectively in the classroom.

Parent-Child Interaction in a Letter-Writing Context

This study investigated the interactions between 26 parents and their 3- to 5-year-old children as they collaborated to write a letter to someone during a 10-minute videotaped session. Observations of these sessions were coded using categories designed to indicate: (a) the manner of the exchange of information, (b) the types of information that parents and children exchanged during the writing, and (c) the nature of the children's written input into the resulting letter product. Regression analyses were used to examine how the parents' level of control was associated with: (a) the nature of the children's communicative input into the literacy exchange, (b) the type of information about writing upon which the interchange was focused, and (c) the nature of each child's written input into their letter product. Parents exhibiting higher levels of control tended to have children who exhibited higher levels of response and recognition that they heard the parents, had exchanges that focused on spelling, and had written products that were conventional in nature. Parents demonstrating lower levels of control tended to have children who exhibited higher levels of initiations and verbal input, had exchanges focused on the content of the letter, and had written products that were emergent in nature. These results are discussed in terms of the parents' perception of the experimental task and the amount of instructional support needed to complete the task.