Spoken Language Processing as an Early Marker of Language Impairment in Bilingual Children

家长奖摘要(R21DC018357) 发育性语言障碍(DLD)影响着6%-8%的儿童，并对儿童的学习、社交、 以及一生的经济成果。及早识别有DLD风险的儿童是改善病情的关键 长期结果。然而，对于美国大量的双语儿童来说，早期迹象表明 DLD可能很难识别。识别有DLD风险的双语学步儿童的一个关键挑战是目前 衡量标准不能区分积累的语言知识的延迟-这可能导致 减少对每种语言的接触-以及在语言学习和处理方面的“真正”障碍 可能会导致持续存在的问题。语言处理的措施提供了一种很有前途的方法 在双语人群中识别DLD，因为他们试图捕捉潜在的缺陷，同时将 以前的工作经验。这项研究将使用细粒度的口语处理措施来比较 低表达词汇量的西班牙语-英语双语幼儿的表现(40名晚说话儿童)和 典型的有表现力的词汇(“典型发展”，n=40)，并检查语言之间的联系 在生命的第三年，两组儿童的加工能力和词汇量都有所增长。孩子们将被跟踪 纵向为24至36个月，包括词汇量(通过家长报告)和语言处理 (使用眼球跟踪)西班牙语和英语。首要目标是确定语言是否 加工效率是双语幼儿学习困难的早期标志。Aim 1将使用眼球跟踪措施来 比较典型发育和说话迟缓的双语幼儿在熟悉单词识别中的表现 在24个月和30个月时。Aim 2将使用眼球跟踪方法来比较典型开发的 以及在24个月和30个月大的时候学习新词的晚说话的双语幼儿。目标3将决定 2岁时语言处理和词汇量的测量对词汇增长轨迹的预测 在典型的发育和说话迟缓的双语幼儿的第三年，以及他们的表现 在3岁的词汇知识标准化测试中。工作假设是，测量熟悉度 单词识别和新词学习将改善对语言结果的预测，而不是 单单是词汇，并将有助于识别那些在3岁时仍有学习障碍的双语LT。这是第一个 双语晚说者的语言加工技能及其程度的调查 预测他们的词汇发展。研究目标的完成将为早期研究方法的发展提供信息 在双语者中识别DLD，将促进对其潜在机制的理论理解 更普遍的语言障碍。

Summary of the Parent Award (R21DC018357) Developmental language disorder (DLD) affects 6-8% of children and has impacts on academic, social, and economic outcomes throughout life. Early identification of children at risk for DLD is critical to improving long-term outcomes. However, for the large number of bilingual children in the United States, early signs of DLD can be difficult to recognize. A key challenge in identifying bilingual toddlers at risk for DLD is that current measures cannot differentiate between delays in accumulated language knowledge – which can result from reduced exposure to each language – and “true” impairments in language learning and processing that are likely to result in persistent problems. Measures of language processing offer a promising approach to identifying DLD in bilingual populations, as they try to capture underlying deficits while minimizing the effects of prior experience. This study will use fine-grained measures of spoken language processing to compare the performance of Spanish-English bilingual toddlers with low expressive vocabularies (“late talkers”, n=40) and typical expressive vocabularies (“typically developing”, n=40), and to examine associations between language processing and vocabulary growth over the third year of life in both groups. Children will be followed longitudinally from 24 to 36 months with measures of vocabulary (via parent report) and language processing (using eye-tracking) in Spanish and English. The overarching goal is to determine whether language processing efficiency is an early marker of DLD in bilingual toddlers. Aim 1 will use eye-tracking measures to compare the performance of typically developing and late-talking bilingual toddlers in familiar word recognition at 24 and 30 months. Aim 2 will use eye-tracking methods to compare the performance of typically developing and late-talking bilingual toddlers in novel word learning at 24 and 30 months. Aim 3 will determine the extent to which measures of language processing and vocabulary at age 2 predict trajectories of vocabulary growth across the 3rd year in both typically developing and late talking bilingual toddlers, as well as their performance in standardized tests of vocabulary knowledge at age 3. The working hypothesis is that measures of familiar word recognition and novel word learning will improve prediction of language outcomes over measures of vocabulary alone, and will help identify bilingual LTs who remain delayed at age 3. This represents the first investigation of the language processing skills of bilingual late talkers, and of the extent to which these skills predict their lexical development. Completion of study aims will inform the development of methods for early identification of DLD in bilinguals and will advance theoretical understandings of the mechanisms underlying language impairments more generally.