University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
J Learn Disabil. 2019 Nov/Dec;52(6):468-479. doi: 10.1177/0022219419866645. Epub 2019 Aug 7.
Research involving monolinguals has demonstrated that language impairment can be noticed in the early years and tends to persist into adolescence. More recently, research has begun to address the challenges of identifying and treating Developmental Language Disorders (DLD) in English Language Learners (ELLs). Developmental patterns of DLD are not necessarily consistent over time, and we hypothesized that some monolinguals and ELLs go "under the radar" in lower grades but their language difficulties become more pronounced in later years, as syntactic demands increase, hence "late-emerging DLD". This longitudinal study examined (a) the existence of late-emerging DLD in Grades 4-6 in English-speaking monolinguals and ELLs, and (b) the Grade 1 and 3 cognitive and language profiles that predict late-emerging DLD. This study involved monolinguals (n = 149), and ELLs (n = 402) coming from diverse home language backgrounds. Cognitive (working memory, phonological short-term memory, processing speed), language (vocabulary and syntax), and word reading skills were assessed annually from grades 1 to 6. Separate parallel analyses in the monolingual and ELL samples confirmed that late-emerging DLD exists in both groups. In comparison with their typically developing peers, late-emerging DLD can be identified as early as Grade 1 based on poorer performance on phonological awareness, naming speed, and working memory.
涉及单语者的研究表明，语言障碍在早期就可以被发现，并倾向于持续到青少年时期。最近，研究开始解决在英语语言学习者（ELL）中识别和治疗发育性语言障碍（DLD）的挑战。DLD 的发育模式不一定随着时间的推移而保持一致，我们假设一些单语者和 ELL 在低年级时“未被发现”，但随着句法要求的增加，他们的语言困难在以后的几年中变得更加明显，因此出现“迟发性 DLD”。这项纵向研究考察了（a）在以英语为母语的单语者和 ELL 中，4-6 年级是否存在迟发性 DLD；（b）预测迟发性 DLD 的 1 年级和 3 年级认知和语言特征。本研究涉及来自不同母语背景的单语者（n=149）和 ELL（n=402）。认知（工作记忆、语音短期记忆、处理速度）、语言（词汇和语法）和单词阅读技能每年从 1 年级到 6 年级进行评估。在单语和 ELL 样本中的独立平行分析证实，这两组都存在迟发性 DLD。与他们的典型发展同龄人相比，迟发性 DLD 早在 1 年级就可以通过语音意识、命名速度和工作记忆较差来识别。
