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Children
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Language Acquisition and Language Impairment in Children with and without...
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Language Acquisition and Language Impairment in Children with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Neurology & Neurodevelopmental Disorders".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2025 | Viewed by 5549

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Muhammad Hashim Raza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Child Language Doctoral Program (CLDP), Kansas University, Lawrence, KS, USA
Interests: molecular basis of speech and language-related disorders; family-based genetic studies; stuttering; specific language impairment; developmental language disorder; gene mapping; next-generation DNA sequencing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Language is innate to humans—and mastery of this ability is achieved by young children. However, language does not develop typically in some individuals, interfering with communication and, ultimately, with learning and academics. Language impairment can affect a child’s reading, writing, and speaking, leading to lifelong consequences. Language abilities can be impaired in the absence of disorders such as hearing impairment, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder; sometimes, language impairment is comorbid with them. There is great complexity in understanding neural networks and the genetic factors in language acquisition. Twin studies have demonstrated significant heritability estimates (up to 0.92), suggesting genetics play a vital role in language acquisition in children. Family studies indicate an accumulation of language impairment in related individuals, and advanced genetic tools have begun to present genes associated with language impairment. The causes of language impairment are largely unknown, with solid agreement with regard to the involvement of biological and neuronal factors. This Special Issue aims to capture various approaches to understanding language development in children and their molecular and neural studies. We also welcome basic and translational research in this area of study.

Dr. Muhammad Hashim Raza
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • language acquisition in children
  • psycholinguistics in language acquisition in children
  • specific language impairment
  • developmental language disorder
  • language development in children with autism
  • genetics
  • longitudinal studies
  • family-based and case–control studies
  • behavioral studies
  • intervention or translational studies
  • social and developmental issues in children with language impairment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 266 KiB  
Article
Which Factors Predict L2 Receptive Vocabulary and Expressive Syntax in Bilingual Children from Low-SES Families?
by Arianna Bello, Paola Ferraresi, Susanna Pallini, Paola Perucchini and Antonia Lonigro
Children 2024, 11(10), 1165; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11101165 - 25 Sep 2024
Viewed by 514
Abstract
Introduction: The objective of the current study was two-fold. First, it aimed to estimate receptive vocabulary and expressive syntax skills in L2 Italian among early sequential/simultaneous bilingual children of migrant single-mother families with very low socioeconomic status (SES). This objective was achieved by [...] Read more.
Introduction: The objective of the current study was two-fold. First, it aimed to estimate receptive vocabulary and expressive syntax skills in L2 Italian among early sequential/simultaneous bilingual children of migrant single-mother families with very low socioeconomic status (SES). This objective was achieved by matching the participants’ performance with normative data. Secondly, this study aimed to identify which individual and language exposure factors contributed to learning L2 vocabulary and syntax. Methods: Twenty-four early sequential/simultaneous bilingual children (age range = 5.10–12.4 years) and their mothers were enrolled. Mothers answered questions about linguistic biography and demographic information. Children completed Lexical Comprehension, Sentence Repetition, and Non-Word Repetition tasks from the Language Assessment Battery for 4–12-year-olds to, respectively, assess receptive vocabulary, expressive syntax, and phonological processing. Moreover, non-verbal intellectual functioning was evaluated by the Raven’s Test. Results/Discussion: Compared to normative data, 20 children showed lower receptive vocabulary abilities (<−1.5 SD), 24 lower expressive syntax skills (−2DS), and 7 children lower phonological processing (<−1.5 DS). Moreover, L2 phonological processing and the length of L2 exposure in an educational context positively predicted L2 receptive vocabulary as well as L2 expressive syntax skills. To date, performance in L2 among early sequential/simultaneous bilingual children from migrant households and very low SES remains underexplored. Future efforts need to be directed towards the understanding of factors that impact oral competence in L2, considering that these children will also be exposed to written L2 in the school context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Acquisition and Language Impairment in Children with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders)
9 pages, 1405 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Mapping of Consanguineous Families Confirms Previously Implicated Gene Loci and Suggests New Loci in Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
by Adnan Yousaf, Huma Hafeez, Muhammad Asim Raza Basra, Mabel L. Rice, Muhammad Hashim Raza and Muhammad Imran Shabbir
Children 2024, 11(9), 1063; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091063 - 30 Aug 2024
Viewed by 573
Abstract
Specific language impairment (SLI) is a developmental disorder with substantial genetic contributions. A genome-wide linkage analysis and homozygosity mapping were performed in five consanguineous families from Pakistan. The highest LOD scores of 2.49 at 12p11.22-q11.21 in family PKSLI-31 and 1.92 at 6p in [...] Read more.
Specific language impairment (SLI) is a developmental disorder with substantial genetic contributions. A genome-wide linkage analysis and homozygosity mapping were performed in five consanguineous families from Pakistan. The highest LOD scores of 2.49 at 12p11.22-q11.21 in family PKSLI-31 and 1.92 at 6p in family PKSLI-20 were observed. Homozygosity mapping showed a loss of heterozygosity on 1q25.3-q32.2 and 2q36.3-q37.3 in PKSLI-20. A loss of heterozygosity mapped, in PKSLI-31 and PKSLI-34 flanks, NFXL1 and CNTNAP2, which are genes previously identified in SLI. Our findings report novel SLI loci and corroborate previously reported SLI loci, indicating the utility of a family-based approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Acquisition and Language Impairment in Children with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders)
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Review

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9 pages, 3016 KiB  
Review
Identifying Language Development in Children with ADHD: Differential Challenges, Interventions, and Collaborative Strategies
by Dimitra V. Katsarou, Efthymia Efthymiou, Georgios A. Kougioumtzis, Maria Sofologi and Maria Theodoratou
Children 2024, 11(7), 841; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11070841 - 10 Jul 2024
Viewed by 3629
Abstract
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) significantly influences children’s language acquisition and usage. This theoretical study explores the multifaceted impact of ADHD on language development, specifically focusing on reading and writing challenges. Existing research reveals that approximately 30% of children with ADHD show significant [...] Read more.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) significantly influences children’s language acquisition and usage. This theoretical study explores the multifaceted impact of ADHD on language development, specifically focusing on reading and writing challenges. Existing research reveals that approximately 30% of children with ADHD show significant delays in reading proficiency. Additionally, about 40% of these children struggle with phonological processing, which directly impacts their reading and writing skills. Interventions targeting executive function training combined with phonics-based instruction have been shown to significantly improve language outcomes. This study introduces a comprehensive framework connecting these challenges to specific interventions and collaborative strategies, emphasizing the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach. This work provides perspectives on the specific connections between ADHD symptoms and language difficulties, offering detailed potential solutions based on empirical data. Moreover, it features the necessity of adopting integrated intervention strategies to advance academic outcomes and communicative competencies for children with ADHD, providing new understandings into effective educational practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Acquisition and Language Impairment in Children with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders)
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