LEXICAL DEFICIT--YOUNG CHILD W/ SPECIFIC LANG IMPAIRMENT

美国有100多万学龄前儿童接受特殊语言障碍(SLI)的特殊教育服务。这些儿童中有相当一部分表现出词汇习得方面的困难。这一缺陷在幼儿中尤其严重，因为词汇习得与后来的识字发展密切相关。研究者假设语音记忆(PM)缺陷或语义技能(SS)缺陷可能导致这一问题；然而，到目前为止，还没有研究这两种类型的缺陷对词汇习得的联合影响。为了评估PM技能、词汇习得和SLI之间的关系，患有SLI的幼儿和年龄和性别匹配的正常语言(NL)儿童参加了一系列小组研究，旨在确定(1)PM任务或词汇SS任务的表现在多大程度上有助于准确识别SLI儿童并预测单词学习成绩；(2)基于语音或基于语义的治疗是否会提高旨在测量这些技能的任务的成绩；以及(3)PM和SS任务的改善是否与改善单词学习成绩有关。治疗效果研究将包括3至6岁的儿童，以确定PM技能、SS和单词学习之间的关系是否随着年龄的变化而变化。这些研究将有助于深入了解SLI儿童潜在的语言缺陷，有助于确定词汇学习不良的原因，并将提供有效治疗这种疾病的重要治疗效果数据。

More than one million preschoolers in the U. S. receive special education services for specific language impairment (SLI). A significant number of these children demonstrate difficulty with lexical acquisition. This deficit is particularly devastating in young children because lexical acquisition is strongly associated with later literacy development. Researchers have hypothesized that phonological memory (PM) deficits or semantic skills (SS) deficits may cause this problem; however, research to date has not investigated the joint impact of both types of deficits on lexical acquisition. To evaluate the relationships among PM skills, SS, lexical acquisition, and SLI, young children with SLI and age- and gender-matched peers with normal language (NL) will participate in a series of group studies designed to determine (1) the extent to which performance on PM tasks or lexical SS tasks contributes to accurate identification of children with SLI and predicts word-learning performance; (2) whether phonologically-based or semantically-based treatment or a combination of both improves performance on tasks designed to measure those skills; and (3) whether improved performance on PM and SS tasks relates to improved word-learning performance. Treatment efficacy studies will include children ages 3 through 6 years to determine whether the relationships among PM skills, SS, and word learning vary as a function of age. These studies will provide insight into the underlying language deficits of children with SLI, will help determine the cause of poor lexical learning, and will provide treatment efficacy data important for effective treatment of this disorder.