Childhood Apraxia of Speech: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Model of Assessment and Diagnosis.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) represents a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge within the field of clinical neuropsychology, characterized by its nuanced presentation and multifactorial nature. The aim of this study was to distil and synthesize the broad spectrum of research into a coherent model for the assessment and diagnosis of CAS. Through a mixed-method design, the quantitative phase analyzed 290 studies, unveiling 10 clusters: developmental apraxia, tabby talk, intellectual disabilities, underlying speech processes, breakpoint localization, speech characteristics, functional characteristics, clinical practice, and treatment outcome. The qualitative phase conducted a thematic analysis on the most cited and recent literature, identifying 10 categories: neurobiological markers, speech motor control, perceptual speech features, auditory processing, prosody and stress patterns, parent- and self-report measures, intervention response, motor learning and generalization, comorbidity analysis, and cultural and linguistic considerations. Integrating these findings, a descriptive and prescriptive model was developed, encapsulating the complexities of CAS and providing a structured approach for clinicians. This model advances the understanding of CAS and supports the development of targeted interventions. This study concludes with a call for evidence-based personalized treatment plans that account for the diverse neurobiological and cultural backgrounds of children with CAS. Its implications for practice include the integration of cutting-edge assessment tools that embrace the heterogeneity of CAS presentations, ensuring that interventions are as unique as the children they aim to support.

Neuropragmatics: A scientometric review.

Neuropragmatics investigates brain functions and neural activities responsible for pragmatic language abilities, often impaired in disorders such as hemisphere damage, autism, schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative disorders. This study examined the development of neuropragmatics and existing neuroimaging evidence using bibliometric and scientometric indicators, analyzing 4,247 documents published between 1967 and 2022 with CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Our cluster analysis revealed key themes. 1) Language comprehension loss due to brain injury: Studies exploring the impact of brain injuries on language comprehension and underlying neural mechanisms. 2) Right hemisphere damage and pragmatic language skills: Research focusing on the relationship between right hemisphere damage and pragmatic language abilities, investigating impairments in social language use and potential neural correlates. 3) Traumatic brain injury and social communication assessment: Research on traumatic brain injury effects on social communication skills, using various assessment tools to evaluate communication effectiveness in social situations. These clusters provide valuable insights into the neuropragmatics field and serve as a framework for future investigations. By building upon existing knowledge, researchers can improve our understanding of brain functions, language behavior, and enhance rehabilitation for individuals with pragmatic language impairments.

Perceptions of Stakeholders Regarding China's Special Education and Inclusive Education Legislation, Law, and Policy: Implications for Student Wellbeing and Mental Health.

Laws and policies, no matter how well designed, can fail if they are not implemented correctly. This can occur when there is no interaction between policymakers and those who are working on the ground. The purpose of this study was to determine the understanding of Chinese stakeholders regarding legislation, policy, and law associated with the provision of special education and explore its implications for student wellbeing and mental health. Two questions were posed: (1) Does a stakeholder's attitude towards legislation, policy, and law regarding special education impact their role or responsibilities? (2) In what ways do stakeholders interact with legislation, laws, and policies regarding special education and their work experience in the field? Using in-depth interviews as the basis for the study, researchers gained valuable insight into how administrators, practitioners, and academics perceive laws and policies. Participants exhibited exaggerated attitudes and over-interpretations of some of these items, which we attribute to partly real factors, as well as nationalistic or patriotic feelings. The evidence included calls for specific laws and policies as well as a switch from a top-down to a bottom-up approach to reform to bridge the disparity between different regions in the country. As the participants agreed, there have also been remarkable achievements in building a more comprehensive and inclusive system over the last decade. However, the gaps between rural and urban areas, primary and middle schools, high schools and vocational schools need to be addressed urgently in specific laws and policies. Addressing these disparities will not only improve the overall quality of special education but also have significant implications for student wellbeing and mental health. By ensuring that all students have access to tailored support and resources, policymakers can foster a more inclusive and supportive environment that promotes positive mental health outcomes for all learners.

Cognitive Linguistics: Analysis of Mapping Knowledge Domains.

Language acquisition, processing, comprehension, and production encompass a complex mechanism. Particularly, the mechanisms by which we make sense of language, including perception, conceptualization, and processing, have been controversial topics among cognitive linguists and researchers in cognitive sciences. Cognitive processes such as attention, thought, perception, and memory play a significant role in meaningful human communication. This study aimed to apply the science mapping method to detect and visualize emerging trends and patterns in literature pertaining to cognitive linguistics. In order to accomplish this, eight bibliometric and eight scientometric indicators were used in conjunction with CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 for scientometric analysis and data visualisation. The data were collected and triangulated from three databases, including 2380 from Scopus, 1732 from WOS, and 9911 from Lens from 1969 to 2022. Among the findings were the visualization of eight bibliometric indicators regarding the knowledge production size of cognitive linguistics based on year, country, university, journal, publisher, research area, authors, and cited documents. Second, we presented scientometric indicators with regard to cognitive linguistics development, including the most important authors in the field, co-citation networks, citation networks, sigma metrics to detect works with potential citation growth, and clusters to group related topics to cognitive linguistics. We conclude the study by emphasizing that cognitive linguistics has evolved from the micro level where it focused on studying cognitive aspects of language in relation to time, language, and modality dimensions, to the macro level, which examines cognitive processes and their relationship to the construction of meaningful communication using both sensation and perception.

Influence of psychological autonomy support of peer instruction: A novel interactive approach using Instagram in language learning.

This study makes an original contribution to knowledge by investigating the impact of Just-in-Time (JiT) teaching and peer instruction (PI) strategies on the promotion of students' achievement, interaction, and motivation in English language learning. Students were recruited from an undergraduate TESOL program in the first semester of 2019 at a University in Saudi Arabia. A multiple method research design was used to address the research questions robustly and rigorously. First, a two-group quasi-experimental design was implemented. In the first group, a lecture-based strategy was used (n = 28), while in the second group, JiT and PI strategies were used (n = 27) in English language lessons. An innovative research method was used in this study: a private Instagram account was created, serving as a platform through which teacher and students could communicate using interactive posts and comments. Second, students filled out a survey reflecting on this medium of language teaching and learning. Finally, focus group interviews were conducted to determine students' views on the use of Instagram as an educational tool in terms of its flexibility and usefulness. The findings of the study suggest that JiT teaching, and PI promoted students' achievement and enhanced students' motivation, particularly in relation to fluency and novelty in the second language. Furthermore, students viewed Instagram as a successful educational tool that significantly facilitated their collaboration. Nevertheless, this study also highlights the challenges of using JiT teaching and PI to facilitate language learning. Suggestions for practitioners are specified; including providing adequate e-learning tools for students to enhance language learning motivation and achievement.

Psycholinguistics: Analysis of Knowledge Domains on Children's Language Acquisition, Production, Comprehension, and Dissolution.

This paper utilised bibliometric and scientometric indicators to assess the current state of research in psycholinguistics. A total of 32,586 documents in psycholinguistics were included from Scopus, WOS, and Lens between 1946 and 2022. The collected data were analysed using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18. The results included tabulation, visualisation, and mapping for the past, present, and future directions of the field of psycholinguistics. We identified key authors, works, journals, and concepts in the existing evidence concerning (children's) language acquisition, production, comprehension, and dissolution. The study contributes to the systematic study of existing scholarship in the field of psycholinguistics by documenting the progress of the field and informing relevant researchers about the current state of the field of psycholinguistics. Having grouped the 32,586 documents in psycholinguistics, 12 clusters were identified. These include (1) examining individual difference in affective norm and familiarity account; (2) examining refractory effect in the role of Broca's area in sentence processing; (3) using eye movement to study bilingual language control and familiarity account; (4) exploring familiarity account through relative clauses; (5) the study of formulaic language and language persistence; (6) examining affective norm and sub-lexical effect in Spanish words; (7) examining lexical persistence in multiplex lexical networks; (8) the study of persistence through cortical dynamics; (9) the study of context effect in language learning and language processing; (10) the study of neurophysiological correlates in semantic context integration; (11) examining persistence as an acquisition norm through naming latencies; and (12) following a cross-linguistic perspective to study aphasic speakers.

Biolinguistics: A Scientometric Analysis of Research on (Children's) Molecular Genetics of Speech and Language (Disorders).

There are numerous children and adolescents throughout the world who are either diagnosed with speech and language disorders or manifest any of them as a result of another disorder. Meanwhile, since the emergence of language as an innate capability, the question of whether it constitutes a behaviour or an innate ability has been debated for decades. There have been several theories developed that support and demonstrate the biological foundations of human language. Molecular evidence of the biological basis of language came from the FOXP2 gene, also known as the language gene. Taking a closer look at both human language and biology, biolinguistics is at the core of these inquiries-attempting to understand the aetiologies of the genetics of speech and language disorders in children and adolescents. This paper presents empirical evidence based on both scientometrics and bibliometrics. We collected data between 1935 and 2022 from Scopus, WOS, and Lens. A total of 1570 documents were analysed from Scopus, 1440 from the WOS, and 5275 from Lens. Bibliometric analysis was performed using Excel based on generated reports from these three databases. CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 were used to conduct the scientometric analysis. Eight bibliometric and eight scientometric indicators were used to measure the development of the field of biolinguistics, including but not limited to the production size of knowledge, the most examined topics, and the most frequent concepts and variables. A major finding of our study is identifying the most examined topics in the genetics of speech and language disorders. These included: gestural communication, structural design, cultural evolution, neural network, language tools, human language faculty, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, and theoretical perspective on language evolution.

Pragmatics: Mapping Evidence on Enhancing Children's Use of Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Capacities for Interactive Communication.

New-born infants communicate from the first minute they come to life. This non-linguistic and non-verbal capacity to interact from the first day they come to life enables them to express their needs and evidence their typical development. This capacity to interact develops to include linguistic and non-linguistic use of verbal and non-verbal interaction, that is, pragmatics. Because pragmatics is heterogeneously structured of semiotic, cognitive, motor and sensory elements so it is vital to ensure successful human interaction. The other language elements (i.e., phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic) are essential inputs for this human interaction outcome (i.e., pragmatics). Accordingly, this study sought to map evidence that pragmatics can enhance children's use of linguistic and non-linguistic capacities for interactive communication. This was addressed by conducting bibliometric and scientometric analyses of 6554 documents from Scopus, 1167 from WOS and 11,230 from Lens between 1939 and 2022. We analysed the past, present and future developments of the field of pragmatics using bibliometric and scientometric indicators. The scientometric analysis was conducted using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 software, which enabled the tabulation, visualisation and measurement of the impact of central influencers in the field of pragmatics. In the light of our results, pragmatics continues to expand in order to understand human interaction in a deeper way and to enhance children's typical interactions with the environment around them. The group should also include adults or elderly people whose pragmatic language skills have been impaired due to any acquired or developmental disorder, such as a brain injury.

Pragmatic Language Development: Analysis of Mapping Knowledge Domains on How Infants and Children Become Pragmatically Competent.

New-borns are capable of recognising and producing sounds as they become phonologically competent. Following this, infants develop a system for connecting these sounds, which helps them become increasingly lexically competent over time. Their knowledge of these words grows as they develop, using words to form phrases, turning them into sentences, and ultimately becoming syntactically competent. By making sense of these linguistic elements, these three competencies are enhanced, and this is how infants become semantically competent. As infants continue to develop linguistic and non-linguistic communication behaviours, this miraculous language development becomes even more complex, enabling them to perfect their linguistic abilities while being pragmatically competent. In this study, a scientometric approach was used to examine past, present, and future trends in pragmatic language development (PLD). A total of 6455 documents were analysed from the Scopus, WOS, and Lens databases between 1950 and 2022. The analysis involved the visualisation and tabulation of eight bibliometric and eight scientometric indicators using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 software for data analysis. In this study, we highlight the major patterns and topics directing the research on PLD between 1950 and 2022. The themes and topics included (1) analysing PLD as a social behaviour through the lens of executive functions; (2) studying PLD as a social behaviour based on social understanding; (3) examining PLD as a social behaviour associated with autism spectrum disorder; (4) developing an understanding of PLD in academic settings through the examination of executive functions; (5) identifying pragmatic competence versus communicative competence as a social behaviour; (6) analysing pragmatic language skills in aphasic patients via epistemic stances (i.e., attitudes towards knowledge in interaction); (7) investigating PLD as a behavioural problem in the context of a foreign language; (8) assessing PLD as a behavioural problem in individuals with autism spectrum disorder; (9) assessing PLD in persons with traumatic brain injury and closed head injury as a behavioural problem; (10) identifying the role of the right hemisphere in executive functions as a cognitive substrate; (11) assessing the impact of pragmatic failure in speech acts on pragmatic competence; and (12) investigating the patterns of PLD among learning-disabled children.

Examining Perceived Stress and Coping Strategies of University Students during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study in Jordan.

COVID-19 has changed our lives in all arenas, including higher education and psychological well-being. Three objectives were set forth in this study. We started by examining issues related to online education during the pandemic in Jordan, particularly for students pursuing business studies. Second, we assessed academic, behavioural, and financial stressors that business students experience at Jordanian higher education institutions. Lastly, we examined the possible coping methods students employed to cope and adapt during the pandemic. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted based on the perceived stress scale distributed to 473 Jordanian undergraduate students (18-27 years of age), across both public and private universities. Results showed an association between academic, behavioural, and financial stressors and students' perceived stress. While students perceived various levels and types of stress during COVID-19, including academic, behavioural, and financial, they also experienced new online skills. However, despite coping with stress, some students (especially females) displayed more stress because of the deficient course content, which added to their perceived stress and left them feeling unmotivated. This study contributes to bettering the university students' mental health.

Clinical Linguistics: Analysis of Mapping Knowledge Domains in Past, Present and Future.

Across the world, many infants, children, adults, and elderly people are reported with many types of disorders and disabilities that damage, delay, or impede typical language development and/or use. Speech-language pathologists and other relevant clinicians are responsible for diagnosing, assessing, and rehabilitating these conditions. In nearly all types of disorders or disabilities that affect language, clinical linguistics plays a significant role in their study, diagnosis, and evaluation. This study provides a thorough analysis of the field of clinical linguistics. Data from Scopus, WOS, and Lens were used between 1981 and 2022. The documents included in the analysis were 1685, 1628, and 2677 articles published between 1981 and 2022 in clinical linguistics in Scopus, WOS, and Lens, respectively. For the purpose of assessing the development and impacts of the field of clinical linguistics, we used eight bibliometric and eight scientometric indicators. As part of the study, the results summarized the top contributors to clinical linguistics in terms of production size by year, country, university/research centre, journal, publisher, and author. The impact of the examined evidence on clinical linguistics was visualized and tabulated in the form of visual networks, citation counts, burst, cooccurrence, centrality, and sigma factors that are helpful in identifying the main influencers in clinical linguistics. A few examples of clinical linguistics patterns that are being explored extensively by researchers include cleft palate speech with model theories, visual feedback, motor speech disorders with instrumental analysis, acoustic analysis to understand conversational breakdown, nonlinear phonological theory, aphasic conversation in atypical interaction, and diagnostic markers in functional segments. There are also phonological disorders, William Syndrome, and the use of ultrasound, which may be considered potential clusters of clinical linguistics. A key contribution of this paper is highlighting the importance of clinical linguistics as well as its integration with linguistics, speech-language pathology, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, neuroscience, cognitive sciences, psychology, and psychometrics.

Arabic Validation of the Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory to Assess Pragmatic Language Development in Preschoolers with and without Pragmatic Language Impairment.

OBJECTIVE: An individual's articulation of pragmatic language development (PLD) signifies successful social interaction with others. Therefore, it is important to detect early pragmatic language impairment (PLI), whether as a primary disorder or as a symptom of other neurodevelopmental disorders. This study reports on validating the Arabic version of the Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory (A-PLSI). METHODS: The PLSI was subjected to various validation stages before the A-PLSI was created. To assess PLD in preschoolers with and without psychiatric histories, 264 preschoolers were assessed in several cities in Saudi Arabia by their teachers and speech-language pathologists. RESULTS: The results of this study included three key findings. First, the established psychometric features, including construct validity, criterion-related validity, and (confirmatory) factor analysis, all reported a high level of measurability to consider the A-PLSI a valid instrument for assessing PLD in school settings and diagnosing PLI in clinical settings. Second, the A-PLSI provided empirical evidence by identifying children with and without PLI, documenting their progress on pragmatic language ability, and distinguishing between preschool children in school and clinical settings. In addition, the A-PLSI approved the typical norm that the older the children, the higher their level of PLD: the data showed higher performance for children aged 6-7 compared to the lower PLD level of children aged 4-5. CONCLUSION: The present study contributes to the existing literature on PLD assessment in a school setting and PLI diagnosis in a clinical setting. More importantly, it adds a new validated tool to the few available instruments in Arabic to assess PLD and diagnose PLI in Arabian contexts.

The Perceptions of International Learners Toward Teacher Code-Switching in the Elementary and Intermediate Chinese Foreign Language Classrooms.

The present study explores the perceptions of elementary and intermediate learners toward English as a code-switching medium in Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) classrooms. The data were collected by means of a survey of international elementary and intermediate-level students studying Chinese at the College of Chinese Language and Culture (CCLC) of Jinan University in Guangzhou, China. The data collection method included a five-point Likert scale questionnaire survey (18 closed-ended questions and one open-ended question). The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected from the questionnaire showed that CFL learners at both proficiency levels tended to favor code-switching in classrooms. However, the results of the Mann-Whitney U test showed that intermediate learners favored code-switching to a lesser extent than elementary learners. Moreover, their perceptions were found to differ significantly in terms of the varying functions of code-switching. These findings suggest that code-switching functions as an effective teaching strategy in the CFL classrooms, although teachers should regulate its deployment when teaching learners with different proficiency levels.

Measuring Students' Use of Zoom Application in Language Course Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

The study uses technology acceptance model (TAM) to gain insights into user reactions to the technology adopted for language learning. The study aims to analyze the correlation between the variables of TAM on using Zoom application in language learning, in addition to examining how gender and experience influence the use of technology. The participants of this study comprise of 75 undergraduate English-as-Foreign-Language learners who have studied for their courses online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study reveal a strong positive correlation between the actual use of Zoom and the students' attitudes and behavioral intention. In addition, there is a positive correlation between computer self-efficacy and other variables (i.e. PU, actual use, PEU, attitude and behavioral intention). Further, while the results reveal that there is no correlation between the gender and any variables of the model, it has been found that experience is positively correlated with the variables of TAM.