Attention in Bilingual Children with Language Impairment

 描述(由申请者提供)：本项目将考察对患有初级(或特定)语言障碍(PLI)的学龄儿童的非语言注意技能的两个影响。第一个影响是PLI，它的定义是语言技能的临床显著延迟，但与几个非语言认知技能的亚临床缺陷有关。第二个影响是双语能力，这似乎增强了特定的认知技能 发展中的儿童。与PLI相关的非语言认知缺陷是否完全延伸到双语儿童，或者双语的认知优势是否可以缓解这些缺陷，目前还没有确定。注意力在两种人群中都是一项关键技能，因为持续的选择性注意力 在患有PLI的儿童中，注意力控制似乎受到了损害，而在双语儿童中，注意力控制似乎得到了加强。这个项目将确定患有PLI的双语儿童是否像他们的单语同龄人一样，在持续选择性注意方面表现出缺陷，以及他们是否像他们典型的双语同龄人那样，在注意力控制方面表现出优势。我们将比较4组6至9岁儿童(每组30名)在视觉非语言评估持续选择性注意和注意控制方面的表现：有无PLI的西班牙语-英语双语儿童和有PLI和没有PLI的英语单语儿童。在持续选择性注意领域，假设患有PLI的单语和双语儿童的表现将低于两组未受影响的同龄人，这表明与PLI相关的微妙认知障碍延伸到双语儿童。在注意控制方面，我们假设两组双语者都会比单语组的同龄人表现更好，而有PLI的组表现会比未受影响的组更差。这一模式表明，PLI儿童的注意力控制可能会受到损害，但这种损害可以通过双语经验来缓解。这些比较的结果将解开对认知发展的潜在相互竞争的影响。在临床上，该项目将指出非语言注意力评估在语言不同人群中识别PLI的适宜性，以及双语治疗PLI儿童是否能提供微妙的认知益处。总体而言，该项目将加强对患有发展性沟通障碍的儿童认知、经验和语言之间相互作用的理解。它有助于实现长期目标，即表征认知和社会影响对PLI双语儿童语言技能的影响。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will examine two influences on the nonlinguistic attention skills of school-aged bilingual children with Primary (or Specific) Language Impairment (PLI). The first influence is PLI, which is defined by clinically significant delays in language skills yet associated with subclinical deficits in several nonlinguistic cognitie skills. The second influence is bilingualism, which appears to enhance specific cognitive skills in developing children. Whether the nonlinguistic cognitive deficits associated with PLI extend fully to bilingual children, or whether they are mitigated by the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, is not yet established. Attention is a key skill in both populations, as sustained selective attention appears impaired in children with PLI and attentional control appears enhanced in bilingual children. This project will determine whether bilingual children with PLI demonstrate deficits in sustained selective attention, as their monolingual peers with PLI do, and whether they demonstrate advantages in attentional control, as their typically developing bilingual peers do. Performance on visual nonlinguistic assessments of sustained selective attention and attentional control will be compared across four groups of 6- to 9- year old children (N = 30 per group): Spanish-English bilingual children with and without PLI and English monolingual children with and without PLI. In the area of sustained selective attention, it is hypothesized tha monolingual and bilingual children with PLI will perform below both groups of unaffected peers, indicating that the subtle cognitive impairments associated with PLI extend to bilingual children. In the area of attentional control, it is hypothesized that both groups of bilinguals will outperfom their monolingual peers and that the groups with PLI will perform more poorly than the unaffected groups. This pattern would suggest that attentional control may be impaired in children with PLI, but that the impairment can be mitigated by bilingual experience. Results of these comparisons will disentangle potentially competing influences on cognitive development. Clinically, the project will indicate the suitability of nonlinguistic assessments of attention in he identification of PLI within linguistically diverse populations, and also whether dual-language treatment for bilingual children with PLI can provide subtle cognitive benefits. Overall, the project will enhance understanding of the interactions between cognition, experience, and language in children with developmental communication disorders. It contributes towards the long- term goal of characterizing cognitive and social influences on language skills in bilingual children with PLI.