Effects of word length and frequency on word identification in second- and fifth-grade children as a function of language skills.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the combined effect of word length and lexical frequency in a lexical decision task in second- and fifth-grade children with varying language skills. The participants, 47 second graders and 55 fifth graders, performed a lexical decision task in which word length and lexical frequency were manipulated orthogonally so that 32 words were short and frequent (e.g., fleur [flower]), 32 words were short and rare (e.g., navet [turnip]), 32 words were long and frequent (e.g., escalier [staircase]), and 32 words were long and rare (e.g., boussole [compass]). Language skills (phonological awareness, reading, vocabulary, and rapid automatized naming skills) were measured using standard language tests. The results showed that word length and, to a lesser extent, lexical frequency influence the speed and accuracy of word identification in different ways, depending on the children's educational level. Furthermore, language skills were found to influence the effects of word length and frequency, differently in second- and fifth-grade children. The results are interpreted within the dual-route model of visual word recognition. The role of language skills in the implementation of these processes is also discussed.

Derivational Morphology Training in French-Speaking, 9- to 14- Year-Old Children and Adolescents With Developmental Dyslexia: Does it Improve Morphological Awaraness, Reading and Spelling Outcome Measures?

Children with developmental dyslexia (DD) display partially preserved morphology skills which they rely upon for reading and spelling. Therefore, we conducted explicit and intensive training of derivational morphology in individuals with DD, ages 9 to 14 years, in order to assess its effect on: morphological awareness, reading (speed and accuracy), and spelling. Our pre-posttest design included a group trained in derivational morphology and a group of children who continued their business-as-usual rehabilitation program with their speech-language therapist. Results showed effects on morphological awareness and on the spelling of complex words, with a large between-group effect size for trained items and a large to moderate effect size for untrained items. All these gains tended to be maintained over time on the delayed posttest, 2 months later. For reading, the results were more contrasted, with large between-group effect sizes for accuracy and speed for trained items, reducing to a small effect for accuracy on the delayed posttest. For untrained items, small effects were observed on accuracy (at both posttests) but not on speed. These results are very promising and argue in favor of using derivational morphology as a medium to improve literacy skills in French-speaking children and adolescents with DD.

Touching while listening: Does infants' haptic word processing speed predict vocabulary development?

The present study examined the links between haptic word processing speed, vocabulary, and inhibitory control among bilingual children. Three main hypotheses were tested: faster haptic processing speed, measured by the Computerized Comprehension Task at age 1;11, would be associated with larger concurrent vocabulary and greater longitudinal vocabulary growth. Second, early vocabulary size would be associated with greater vocabulary growth at 3;0 and 5;0. Finally, faster haptic processing speed would be associated with greater concurrent inhibitory control, as measured by the Shape Stroop Task. The results revealed that haptic processing speed was associated with concurrent vocabulary, but not predictive of later language skills. Also, early decontextualized vocabulary was predictive of vocabulary at 3;0. Finally, haptic processing speed measured in the non-dominant language was associated with inhibitory control. These results provide insight on the mechanisms of lexical retrieval in young bilinguals and expand previous research on haptic word processing and vocabulary development.

Convergence and divergence in prediction from vocabulary and speed of word processing.

Toddler vocabulary knowledge and speed of word processing are associated with downstream language and cognition. Here, we investigate whether these associations differ across measures. At age two, 101 participants (55 monolingual French-speaking and 46 monolingual English-speaking children) completed a two-alternative forced choice task, yielding measures of decontextualized vocabulary (number of correct responses) and haptic speed of word processing (latency of correct responses). At ages three, four, and five children completed a battery of language assessments and an executive function task. Growth curve models revealed that age-two vocabulary significantly predicted age-three performance (but not growth from age three to four or four to five) across all language assessments but speed of processing did not predict language outcomes in final models. Finally, speed of processing was correlated with executive function at age three whereas vocabulary was not. Results suggest that vocabulary is associated with a range of downstream language abilities whereas haptic speed of processing may be associated with executive control.

Does learning to read affect naming skills? Insights from ERPs during letter and picture naming tasks.

Numerous studies report that poor readers display low performance in naming tasks. However, very few studies have investigated the development of naming skills along with the development of reading fluency and its variability in typically developing children. In this study, we used electro-encephalographic (EEG) recordings acquired during letter and picture naming tasks to investigate how naming skills develop and, possibly, interact with age and reading level variations. Ninety-three children aged 7-12 years named letters and pictures under an EEG recording, and their reading performance was assessed. ERP results on amplitudes show that age and reading level have similar effects on the entire letter naming time-course. By contrast, age and reading level have different effects on the picture naming time-course, with a specific effect of reading level on the N1 time-interval, associated with visuo-conceptual processing and an effect of both age and reading on later time-windows. On the microstate analysis, age remains the only predictor of the variance in global electric field at scalp for both letter and picture naming indicating that reading skill is not related to a modulation of the mental processes underlying naming.

Dynamics of Word Production in the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood.

Changes in word production occur across the lifespan. Previous studies have shown electrophysiological, temporal, and functional differences between children and adults accompanying behavioral changes in picture-naming tasks (Laganaro, Tzieropoulos, Fraunfelder, & Zesiger, 2015). Thus, a shift toward adult-like processes in referential word production occurs somewhere between the ages of 13 and 20. Our aim was to investigate when and how children develop adult-like behavior and brain activation in word production. Toward this aim, performance and event-related potentials (ERP) in a referential word production task were recorded and compared for two groups of adolescents (aged 14 to 16 and 17 to 18), children (aged 10 to 13), and young adults (aged 20 to 30). Both groups of adolescents displayed adult-like production latencies, which were longer only for children, while accuracy was lower in the younger adolescents and in children, compared to adults. ERP waveform analysis and topographic pattern analysis revealed significant intergroup differences in key time-windows on stimulus-locked ERPs, both early (150-220 ms)-associated with pre-linguistic processes-and late (280-330 ms)-associated with lexical processes. The results indicate that brain activation underlying referential word production is completely adult-like in 17-year-old adolescents, whereas an intermediate pattern is still observed in adolescents aged 14 to 16 years old, although their production speed, but not their accuracy, is already adult-like.

Bridging ears and eyes when learning spoken words: On the effects of bilingual experience at 30 months.

From the very first moments of their lives, infants selectively attend to the visible orofacial movements of their social partners and apply their exquisite speech perception skills to the service of lexical learning. Here we explore how early bilingual experience modulates children's ability to use visible speech as they form new lexical representations. Using a cross-modal word-learning task, bilingual children aged 30 months were tested on their ability to learn new lexical mappings in either the auditory or the visual modality. Lexical recognition was assessed either in the same modality as the one used at learning ('same modality' condition: auditory test after auditory learning, visual test after visual learning) or in the other modality ('cross-modality' condition: visual test after auditory learning, auditory test after visual learning). The results revealed that like their monolingual peers, bilingual children successfully learn new words in either the auditory or the visual modality and show cross-modal recognition of words following auditory learning. Interestingly, as opposed to monolinguals, they also demonstrate cross-modal recognition of words upon visual learning. Collectively, these findings indicate a bilingual edge in visual word learning, expressed in the capacity to form a recoverable cross-modal representation of visually learned words.

Visual and haptic responses as measures of word comprehension and speed of processing in toddlers: Relative predictive utility.

Early vocabulary knowledge and speed of word processing are important foundational skills for the development of preschool and school-age language and cognition. However, the variance in outcomes accounted for by parent-reported receptive or expressive vocabulary is generally modest. Recent research suggests that directly assessed, decontextualized vocabulary predicts developmental outcomes, including general language ability and kindergarten readiness, accounting for additional variance above and beyond parent-reported vocabulary. The current research extends this finding by exploring prediction from both decontextualized vocabulary and speed of word processing at 2 years of age to vocabulary during the preschool period. At age 2, children completed a two-alternative forced-choice task that yielded a measure of decontextualized vocabulary (number of correct touch responses) and two measures of speed of processing: latency to fixate the target (visual response latency) and latency to touch (haptic response latency). Results reveal that age 2 vocabulary and visual response latency, but not haptic response latency, independently predict vocabulary at ages 3 and 4. Furthermore, only decontextualized vocabulary remains a significant predictor when controlling for speed of processing, but not vice versa. This suggests that the number of early, stable word-referent associations and the efficiency with which these are processed are important to vocabulary outcomes. However, it also suggests that decontextualized vocabulary may be a more robust unique predictor of downstream outcomes.

Are there Cognitive Benefits of Code-switching in Bilingual Children? A longitudinal study.

The current study explored bilingual parent and child code-switching patterns over time. Concurrent and predictive models of code-switching behaviour on executive function outcomes were also examined in a sample of 29 French-English bilinguals at 36 (Wave 1) and 61 (Wave 2) months of age. We investigated whether code-switching typology in a single-language context predicted executive function performance at each wave independently, and whether growth in code-switching frequency across waves predicted executive function performance at Wave 2. At both waves, parents and children participated in two free play sessions (in English and French), followed by a battery of executive function tasks administered in the dominant language. Results indicate more frequent code-switching from the non-dominant to the dominant language in children, and that children code-switch to fill lexical gaps. Results also suggest that less frequent code-switching in a single-language context is associated with better inhibitory control skills during the preschool period.

The Relationship Between Lexical and Phonological Development in French-Speaking Children: A Longitudinal Study.

Purpose This study examines the influence of lexical and phonological factors on expressive lexicon size in 40 French-speaking children tested longitudinally from 22 to 48 months. The factors include those based on the lexical and phonological properties of words in the children's lexicons (phonetic complexity, word length, neighborhood density [ND], and word frequency [WF]) as well as variables measuring phonological production (percent consonants correct and phonetic inventory size). Specifically, we investigate the relative influence of these factors at individual ages, namely, 22, 29, 36, and 48 months, and which factors measured at 22 and 29 months influence lexicon size at 36 and 48 months. Method Children were selected based on parent-reported vocabulary size. We included children with low, medium, and high vocabulary scores. The children's lexicons were coded in terms of phonetic complexity, word length, ND, and WF, and their phonological production skills were based on measures of percent consonants correct and phonetic inventory size extracted from spontaneous speech samples at 29, 36, and 48 months. In the case of ND and WF, we focused on one- and two-syllable nouns. Results Across the age range, the most important factor that explained variance in lexicon size was the WF of nouns. Children who selected low-frequency nouns had larger vocabularies across all ages (22-48 months). The WF of two-syllable nouns and phonological production measured at 29 months influenced lexicon size at 36 months, whereas the WF (of one- and two-syllable words) influenced lexicon size at 48 months. Conclusions The findings support the role of WF and phonological production in explaining expressive vocabulary development. Children enlarge their vocabularies by adding nouns of increasingly lower frequency. Phonological production plays a role in accounting for vocabulary size up until the age of 36 months. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12291074.

Do early lexical skills predict language outcome at 3 years? A longitudinal study of French-speaking children.

Early language development is considered critical for children's adjustment in school, for social adaptation and for later educational achievement. Despite the role of children's receptive skills as a foundation for later productive word use, receptive language skills have received surprisingly little attention. The present research extends recent work on the prediction of preschool language skills by exploring whether a decontextualized measure of lexical comprehension can account for unique variance in preschool language skills above and beyond parent report and how early such a prediction can be made. For this purpose, 65 French-speaking children have been tested at 16, 22, 29 and 36 months. The results of the current study suggest that up to the age of two, although parent reports of lexical comprehension and/or production account for a portion of variance in later receptive, productive or general language outcome, they have less predictive validity than a direct measure of early lexical comprehension. By contrast, after age two, parent reported vocabulary production is the strongest predictor of later language production skills.

Modalities of reading acquisition in three siblings with infantile-onset saccade initiation delay (Cogan congenital ocular motor apraxia): A longitudinal study.

This study aims to ascertain the impact of congenital ocular motor apraxia (COMA), alternatively called infantile-onset saccade initiation delay (ISID), on reading acquisition. More specifically, the consequence of defective initiation of horizontal saccades during reading acquisition was investigated. Three siblings (A: male, 11y3m at the first time-point of testing (i.e. T1 hereafter); B: female, 7y3m at T1 and C: male, 5y9m at T1) suffering from ISID were assessed longitudinally over 3 years in various reading tests and their eye movements simultaneously registered. At each time-point, they were compared to control participants matched on reading level. Eye movements during reading tasks were markedly abnormal in children with ISID at the beginning of reading acquisition and their reading scores were poor. With time, the number of fixations, small amplitude saccades and their reading abilities became comparable to those of control children. Despite the abnormal eye movements and difficulties in specifically directing the eyes to the appropriate position, children with ISID do not seem to encounter major difficulties during reading acquisition, although mild delays might be observed during the early stages.

Language status at age 3: Group and individual prediction from vocabulary comprehension in the second year.

The present research extends recent work on the prediction of preschool language skills by exploring prediction from decontextualized vocabulary comprehension. Vocabulary comprehension was a stronger predictor than parent-reported production, yielding a quadrupling of variance accounted for relative to prior studies. Parallel studies (Studies 1 and 2) are reported for two linguistically and geographically distinct samples. In both samples, decontextualized vocabulary comprehension late in the second year provided the best balance between model fit and parsimony in predicting language skills at age three. In Study 3, vocabulary comprehension prospectively identified children with low language status 2 years earlier than other prospective studies but with similar sensitivity and specificity. The present paper provides evidence on three questions of practical and theoretical significance: the relation between decontextualized vocabulary prior to 30 months of age and language outcomes, how prediction from decontextualized vocabulary compares with parent-reported vocabulary, and finally how early stable predictions to language outcomes can be made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The electrophysiological correlates of developmental dyslexia: New insights from lexical decision and reading aloud in adults.

Many studies have described the electrophysiological specificities of print processing in dyslexic readers, mostly using lexical decision tasks. The aim of the present study was twofold: a) to assess for the first time the electrophysiological correlates of print processing in dyslexic adults in the under-investigated context of reading aloud tasks, acknowledged to be especially relevant to investigate phonological processes relatively to lexical decision; and b) to assess whether the electrophysiological specificities described in dyslexic readers in lexical decision correspond to a different neuronal network engaged in print processing. 21 dyslexic university students and matched controls performed a lexical decision task and a reading aloud task on words and pseudowords under EEG recording. In lexical decision, the pattern of results indicates the engagement of similar brain processes between the groups, but with a sub-efficient visual word form processing in dyslexia. In reading aloud, between group differences revealed completely different distributions of the electric field at scalp between the two groups after the N2 time window, suggesting alternative processing strategies in dyslexic readers. Those specificities seem to be related to their core phonological deficits. Crucially, the present results suggest that the nature of electrophysiological divergences in print processing in dyslexic readers vary according to the task: while lexical decision task appears to be well suited to assess divergences in lexical access, reading aloud tasks should also be used in ERP investigation as it allows a better insight into phonological processes and thus be better suited in the framework of the phonological deficit theory of dyslexia.

The relation between phonological and lexical development in French-speaking children.

This study examines the relation between lexical and phonological variables in 40 French-speaking children, aged 2;5. Specifically, it examines the influence of phonetic complexity, phonological production, phonological memory and neighbourhood density (ND) on vocabulary size. Children were divided into four groups on the basis of their scores on the French version of the Communicative Developmental Inventory (CDI): late1 (< 10%ile), late2 (15-25%ile), middle (40-60%ile) and precocious (> 90%ile). The children's lexicons were coded in terms of phonetic complexity and ND (one-and two-syllable words), and their production capacities were determined from measuring percent consonants correct (PCC) and the number of syllable-initial (CSI) and -final (CSF) consonants in their phonetic inventories. The children also took part in a non-word repetition (NWR) task. Results indicated significant group differences in all four sets of variables. Children with larger vocabularies selected words with greater phonetic complexity and with lower ND values. They had superior PCC, CSI and NWR scores compared to children with smaller vocabularies. Linear regression analyses indicated that 76% of variance in vocabulary size could be accounted for by ND in combination with phonetic complexity and CSI. Our findings are consistent with previous studies which show that ND plays an important role in accounting for variance in vocabulary size. They also indicate that phonetic complexity and phonological production influence lexical acquisition.

Is a fact retrieval deficit the main characteristic of children with mathematical learning disabilities?

Although a fact retrieval deficit is widely considered to be the hallmark of children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD), recent studies suggest that even adults use procedural strategies to solve small additions, except for ties that are unanimously considered to be solved by retrieval. Our study, based on how MLD children process ties and non-ties compared to typically developing (TD) children, sheds new light on their retrieval and procedural difficulties. Our results show that, by the end of the second grade, MLD children do not differ in their ability to solve the tie problems that are certainly solved by retrieval, but they do struggle with both small and large non-ties. These findings emphasize the extend of the difficulties that MLD children exhibit in procedural strategies relatively to retrieval ones.

"A cross-language study of decontextualized vocabulary comprehension in toddlerhood and kindergarten readiness": Correction to Friend et al. (2018).

Reports an error in "A cross-language study of decontextualized vocabulary comprehension in toddlerhood and kindergarten readiness" by Margaret Friend, Erin Smolak, Yushuang Liu, Diane Poulin-Dubois and Pascal Zesiger (Developmental Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Apr 05, 2018, np). In the article, the reference for Legacy, Zesiger, Friend, & Poulin-Dubois (2016) should be Legacy, Zesiger, Friend, & Poulin-Dubois (2018). The correct reference for the article is listed below: Legacy, J., Zesiger, P., Friend, M., & Poulin-Dubois, D. (2018). Vocabulary size and speed of word recognition in very young French-English bilinguals: A longitudinal study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21, 137-149. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000833. All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2018-13949-001.) Recent studies demonstrate that emerging literacy depends on earlier language achievement. Importantly, most extant work focuses on parent-reported production prior to 30 months of age. Of interest is whether and how directly assessed vocabulary comprehension in the 2nd year of life supports vocabulary and kindergarten readiness in the 4th year. We first contrasted orthogonal indices of parent-reported production and directly assessed vocabulary comprehension and found that comprehension was a stronger predictor of child outcomes. We then assessed prediction from vocabulary comprehension controlling for maternal education, preschool attendance, and child sex. In 3 studies early, decontextualized vocabulary comprehension emerged as a significant predictor of 4th year language and kindergarten readiness accounting for unique variance above demographic control variables. Further we found that the effect of early vocabulary on 4th year kindergarten readiness was not mediated by 4th year vocabulary. This pattern of results emerged in English monolingual children (N = 48) and replicated in French monolingual (N = 58) and French-English bilingual children (N = 34). Our findings suggest that early, decontextualized vocabulary may provide a platform for the establishment of a conceptual system that supports both later vocabulary and kindergarten readiness, including the acquisition of a wide range of concepts including print and number. Differences between parent-reported and directly assessed vocabulary and the mechanisms by which decontextualized vocabulary may contribute to conceptual development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Lexical Access in the Second Year: a Study of Monolingual and Bilingual Vocabulary Development.

It is well established that vocabulary size is related to efficiency in auditory processing, such that children with larger vocabularies recognize words faster than children with smaller vocabularies. The present study evaluates whether this relation is specific to the language being assessed, or related to general language or cognitive processes. Speed of word processing was measured longitudinally in Spanish- and English-learning monolinguals and bilinguals at 16 and 22 months of age. Speed of processing in bilinguals was similar to monolinguals, suggesting that the number of languages to which children are exposed does not influence word recognition. Further, cross-language associations in bilinguals suggest that the dominant language supports processing in the non-dominant language. These cross-language associations are consistent with general language and cognitive efficiency accounts in which the relation between word processing and knowledge relies on experience within a language as well as on general and cognitive properties of language learning.

A cross-language study of decontextualized vocabulary comprehension in toddlerhood and kindergarten readiness.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 54(7) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2018-30226-001). In the article, the reference for Legacy, Zesiger, Friend, & Poulin-Dubois (2016) should be Legacy, Zesiger, Friend, & Poulin-Dubois (2018). The correct reference for the article is listed below: Legacy, J., Zesiger, P., Friend, M., & Poulin-Dubois, D. (2018). Vocabulary size and speed of word recognition in very young French-English bilinguals: A longitudinal study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21, 137-149. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000833. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Recent studies demonstrate that emerging literacy depends on earlier language achievement. Importantly, most extant work focuses on parent-reported production prior to 30 months of age. Of interest is whether and how directly assessed vocabulary comprehension in the 2nd year of life supports vocabulary and kindergarten readiness in the 4th year. We first contrasted orthogonal indices of parent-reported production and directly assessed vocabulary comprehension and found that comprehension was a stronger predictor of child outcomes. We then assessed prediction from vocabulary comprehension controlling for maternal education, preschool attendance, and child sex. In 3 studies early, decontextualized vocabulary comprehension emerged as a significant predictor of 4th year language and kindergarten readiness accounting for unique variance above demographic control variables. Further we found that the effect of early vocabulary on 4th year kindergarten readiness was not mediated by 4th year vocabulary. This pattern of results emerged in English monolingual children (N = 48) and replicated in French monolingual (N = 58) and French-English bilingual children (N = 34). Our findings suggest that early, decontextualized vocabulary may provide a platform for the establishment of a conceptual system that supports both later vocabulary and kindergarten readiness, including the acquisition of a wide range of concepts including print and number. Differences between parent-reported and directly assessed vocabulary and the mechanisms by which decontextualized vocabulary may contribute to conceptual development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Does the Relation between Rapid Automatized Naming and Reading Depend on Age or on Reading Level? A Behavioral and ERP Study.

Reading predictors evolve through age: phonological awareness is the best predictor of reading abilities at the beginning of reading acquisition while Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) becomes the best reading predictor in more experienced readers (around 9-10 years old). Those developmental changes in the relationship between RAN and reading have so far been explained in term of participants' age. However, it should be noted that in the previous experiments age always co-vary with participants reading level. It is thus not clear whether RAN-reading relationship is developmental in nature or related to the reading system itself. This study investigates whether the behavioral changes in the relationship between RAN and reading and their electrophysiological correlates are related to the chronological age or to the reading level of the participants. Thirty two French-speaking children aged 7-10 years took part to the experiment: they were divided into groups contrasted on age but with similar reading levels and the other way round. Participants performed two reading tasks and four RAN tasks. EEG/ERP was recorded during discrete letter and picture RAN. Behavioral results revealed that alphanumeric RAN is more sensitive to age variations than reading level differences. The inverse profile was revealed for picture RAN, which discriminate poor and good readers among typically developed children within the same age-group. ERPs of both letter and picture RAN differed across age groups whereas only for the picture RAN ERPs differed across reading levels. Taken together, these results suggest that picture RAN is a particularly good indicator of reading level variance independently of age.