Infant Speech Processing as Predictor of Language Disorder in English and Spanish

描述（由申请人提供）：为了理解语言，孩子们必须倾听随着时间的推移而迅速展开的语音中的含义。研究人员已经开始探索正常发育（TD）婴儿早期语言理解效率的出现，但对有语言延迟（LD）风险的儿童的语言处理能力是如何发展的知之甚少，这个问题激发了这个提议。两项针对有语言延迟风险的英语和西班牙语学习儿童的纵向研究探讨了在线处理效率测量与实验和标准化测试中语言和认知能力的传统测量之间的关系。研究一的参与者（n=125）在18个月大的时候被招募，包括学习英语的TD儿童和“晚说话者”（LT），其中一些人后来会进入正常范围，而一些人仍然有语言迟缓的风险。这些儿童在18、24、30、36和48个月时接受“边听边看”（LWL）程序测试，以评估语音处理技能。研究II的参与者（n=126）是有语言延迟风险的西班牙语学习儿童，以及同时学习西班牙语和英语的双语儿童，也在18个月时招募，包括TD和LT儿童。这些拉丁裔儿童在18、24、36、48和60个月时进行评估。一个目标是调整为弱智儿童开发的在线处理措施，以关注语言处理挑战（lpc）在四个关键的语言能力领域：熟悉的单词识别；形态句法信息的使用；语义集成;以及新单词的学习，这些都是弱智儿童有困难的领域。第二个目标是建立这些新的在线处理方法的有效性，用于非常年幼的儿童，与传统的词汇和语法增长方法以及用于评估语言延迟的标准化临床工具相关联。在每个年龄段，孩子们都接受在线LWL程序的测试，产生精确、敏感、连续的测量，以实时解释语言刺激的速度和准确性。他们还在每个年龄段的标准化测试中进行评估，使我们能够检查每个LPC的处理效率与更传统的语言发展指标之间的并发关系。我们的首要目标是确定语言功能的哪些指标在预测不同人群的未来结果方面最有效。我们使用在线测量来确定哪些特定的处理问题可能是后期语言障碍的早期前兆或“标记”。我们的纵向设计前瞻性地跟踪了语言技能的增长，使我们能够确定婴儿期的处理效率在多大程度上可以区分“赶上”的低语言儿童和那些有语言和学习困难风险的儿童。虽然我们的主要重点是这些措施对有语言迟缓风险的儿童的临床相关性，但研究I和II也将使我们能够探索不同人群中学习西班牙语和英语的儿童接受性语言技能的完整连续性，记录高能力儿童和口语处理困难儿童的个体差异。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): To understand language, children must listen for meaning in speech sounds that unfold rapidly in time. Researchers have begun to explore the emergence of early efficiency in language understanding in typically developing (TD) infants, but little is known about how speech processing abilities develop in children who are at risk for language delay (LD), the question that motivates this proposal. Two longitudinal studies with English- and Spanish-learning children at risk for language delay explore relations between online measures of processing efficiency and traditional measures of language and cognitive competence on experimental and standardized tests. Participants in Study I, (n=125) recruited at 18 months, include English-learning TD children as well as "late talkers" (LT), some who will later move into the normal range, and some who will remain at risk for language delay. These children are tested in the "looking-while-listening" (LWL) procedure to assess speech processing skill at 18, 24, 30, 36, & 48 months. Participants in Study II (n=126) are Spanish-learning children at risk for language delay, as well as bilingual children learning Spanish and English simultaneously, also recruited at 18 months including TD and LT children. These Latino children are assessed at 18, 24, 36, 48, & 60 months. One goal is to adapt online processing measures developed with TD children to focus on Language Processing Challenges (LPCs) in four critical areas of language competence: familiar word recognition; use of morphosyntactic information; semantic integration; and novel word learning, all areas in which LD children have difficulties. A second goal is to establish the validity of these new online processing measures for use with very young children in relation to traditional measures of lexical and grammatical growth and to standardized clinical instruments used to assess language delay. At each age children are tested in the online LWL procedure, yielding precise, sensitive, continuous measures of speed and accuracy in interpreting linguistic stimuli in real time. They are also assessed at each age on standardized tests, enabling us to examine concurrent relations between processing efficiency in each LPC and more traditional measures of language development. Our overarching goal is to determine which measures of language function are most powerful in predicting later outcomes in diverse populations. We use online measures to identify which particular processing problems may be early precursors or "markers" of later language impairment. Our longitudinal designs prospectively track growth in language skills, allowing us to determine to what extent processing efficiency in infancy can distinguish LT children who "catch up" from those who are at risk for language and learning difficulties. Although our major focus is on the clinical relevance of these measures for children at risk for language delay, Studies I & II will also enable us to explore the full continuum of receptive language skill in diverse populations of children learning Spanish and English, documenting individual differences in children who are highly competent as well as those who are having difficulty in spoken language processing.