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

描述(申请者提供)：为了理解语言，孩子们必须倾听迅速展开的语音中的含义。研究人员已经开始探索典型发育中(TD)婴儿在语言理解方面出现的早期效率，但对有语言延迟(LD)风险的儿童的语言处理能力如何发展知之甚少，这是促使这一提议的问题。两项对学习英语和西班牙语的儿童进行的纵向研究探索了在线处理效率指标与试验性和标准化测试中语言和认知能力的传统指标之间的关系。研究I(n=125)的参与者在18个月时被招募，包括学习英语的TD儿童和“晚谈者”(LT)，其中一些人稍后将进入正常范围，一些人仍将面临语言延迟的风险。这些儿童在18个月、24个月、30个月、36个月和48个月时接受“边看边听”(LWL)程序的测试，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，也是在18个月大时招募的，包括TD和LT儿童。这些拉丁裔儿童在18、24、36、48和60个月时被评估。其中一个目标是调整为学习障碍儿童制定的在线处理措施，将重点放在语言能力的四个关键领域的语言处理挑战(LPCS)上：熟悉的单词识别；形态合成信息的使用；语义整合；以及新词学习，所有这些领域都是学习障碍儿童遇到的困难。第二个目标是确定这些用于幼儿的新的在线处理方法相对于词汇和语法增长的传统测量方法以及用于评估语言延迟的标准化临床工具的有效性。在每个年龄段，儿童都会接受在线LWL程序的测试，得出准确、灵敏、连续的速度和准确度指标，以实时解释语言刺激。他们还在每个年龄的标准化测试中进行评估，使我们能够检查每个LPC中的处理效率与更传统的语言发展衡量标准之间的同时关系。我们的首要目标是确定哪些语言功能测量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语言障碍的早期先兆或“标志”。我们的纵向设计前瞻性地跟踪语言技能的发展，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那些在语言和学习上存在困难的儿童和那些处于语言和学习困难风险中的LT儿童。虽然我们的主要关注点是这些措施对有语言延迟风险的儿童的临床相关性，但研究I和研究II也将使我们能够探索学习西班牙语和英语的不同儿童群体接受语言技能的完整连续体，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.