I remembered the chorm! Word learning abilities of children with and without phonological impairment.

BACKGROUND: Children with phonological impairment present with pattern-based errors in their speech production. While some children have difficulties with speech perception and/or the establishment of robust underlying phonological representations, the nature of phonological impairment in children is still not well understood. Given that phonological and lexical development are closely linked, one way to better understand the nature of the problem in phonological impairment is to examine word learning abilities in children. AIMS: To examine word learning and its relationship with speech perception, speech production and vocabulary knowledge in children aged 4-5 years. There were two variables of interest: speech production abilities ranging from phonological impairment to typical speech; and vocabulary abilities ranging from typical to above average ('lexically precocious'). METHODS & PROCEDURES: Participants were 49 Australian-English-speaking children aged 48-69 months. Children were each taught four novel non-words (out of a selection of eight) through stories, and word learning was assessed at 1 week post-initial exposure. Word learning was assessed using two measures: confrontation naming and story retell naming. Data were analysed by group using independent-samples t-tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests, and continuously using multiple linear regression. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: There was no significant difference in word learning ability of children with and without phonological impairment, but regardless of speech group, children with above average vocabulary had significantly better word learning abilities than children with average vocabulary. In multiple linear regression, vocabulary was the only significant predictor of variance in word learning ability. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Children with phonological impairment can be lexically precocious and learn new words like their peers without phonological impairment. Contrary to expectations, vocabulary knowledge rather than expressive phonological ability explained variance in measures of word learning. These findings question an assumption that children with phonological impairment have underspecified phonological representations. They also highlight the heterogeneity among children with phonological impairment and the need to better understand the nature of their difficulty learning the phonological system of the ambient language. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject There is limited research examining the word learning abilities of children with phonological impairment. Most previous research focuses on word properties such as phonotactic probability and neighbourhood density. Within the existing literature there are different reports and conclusions regarding the word learning abilities of children with phonological impairment and whether their word learning differs from that of children with typically developing speech. What this study adds to existing knowledge This study found that vocabulary was the strongest predictor of word learning across children with and without phonological impairment. There was no significant difference in word learning ability between children with and without phonological impairment. However, children with lexically precocious vocabulary abilities were significantly better at word learning than children with average vocabulary abilities. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Findings from this study support the importance of assessing and considering measures of word learning-including vocabulary-when working with children with phonological impairment. This study indicates that it is possible to use stories coupled with measures of confrontation naming and story retell to gain deeper insight into children's word learning abilities.

Teaching little kids big sentences: A randomized controlled trial showing that children with DLD respond to complex syntax intervention embedded within the context of preschool/kindergarten science instruction.

BACKGROUND: The language of the science curriculum is complex, even in the early grades. To communicate their scientific observations, children must produce complex syntax, particularly complement clauses (e.g., I think it will float; We noticed that it vibrates). Complex syntax is often challenging for children with developmental language disorder (DLD), and thus their learning and communication of science may be compromised. AIMS: We asked whether recast therapy delivered in the context of a science curriculum led to gains in complement clause use and scientific content knowledge. To understand the efficacy of recast therapy, we compared changes in science and language knowledge in children who received treatment for complement clauses embedded in a first-grade science curriculum to two active control conditions (vocabulary + science, phonological awareness + science). METHODS & PROCEDURES: This 2-year single-site three-arm parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted in Delaware, USA. Children with DLD, not yet in first grade and with low accuracy on complement clauses, were eligible. Thirty-three 4-7-year-old children participated in the summers of 2018 and 2019 (2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19). We assigned participants to arms using 1:1:1 pseudo-random allocation (avoiding placing siblings together). The intervention consisted of 39 small-group sessions of recast therapy, robust vocabulary instruction or phonological awareness intervention during eight science units over 4 weeks, followed by two science units (1 week) taught without language intervention. Pre-/post-measures were collected 3 weeks before and after camp by unmasked assessors. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Primary outcome measures were accuracy on a 20-item probe of complement clause production and performance on ten 10-item unit tests (eight science + language, two science only). Complete data were available for 31 children (10 grammar, 21 active control); two others were lost to follow-up. Both groups made similar gains on science unit tests for science + language content (pre versus post, d = 2.9, p < 0.0001; group, p = 0.24). The grammar group performed significantly better at post-test than the active control group (d = 2.5, p = 0.049) on complement clause probes and marginally better on science-only unit tests (d = 2.5, p = 0.051). CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Children with DLD can benefit from language intervention embedded in curricular content and learn both language and science targets taught simultaneously. Tentative findings suggest that treatment for grammar targets may improve academic outcomes. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject We know that recast therapy focused on morphology is effective but very time consuming. Treatment for complex syntax in young children has preliminary efficacy data available. Prior research provides mixed evidence as to children's ability to learn language targets in conjunction with other information. What this study adds This study provides additional data supporting the efficacy of intensive complex syntax recast therapy for children ages 4-7 with Developmental Language Disorder. It also provides data that children can learn language targets and science curricular content simultaneously. What are the clinical implications of this work? As SLPs, we have to talk about something to deliver language therapy; we should consider talking about curricular content. Recast therapy focused on syntactic frames is effective with young children.

Editorial Perspective: Speaking up for developmental language disorder - the top 10 priorities for research.

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions, yet is chronically underserved, with far fewer children receiving clinical services than expected from prevalence estimates, and very little research attention relative to other neurodevelopmental conditions of similar prevalence and severity. This editorial describes a research priority-setting exercise undertaken by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, which aims to redress this imbalance. From consultations with researchers, practitioners and individuals with lived experience, 10 research priorities emerge. Our goal is to share these priorities with the wider research community, to raise awareness and encourage research collaboration to improve outcomes for young people with DLD.

The role of maternal psychosocial perceptions in parent-training programs: a preliminary randomized controlled trial.

Parent-child interaction is critical for early language and literacy development. Parent training programs have proliferated to support early interactions. However, many environmental and psychosocial factors can impact the quality of parent-child language and literacy interactions as well as training program outcomes. This preliminary randomized controlled trial examined maternal perceived self-efficacy and locus of control during a language and literacy parent training program. Thirty mother-child dyads (mother age 21-40; children 2;6-4;0) were assigned in parallel to the training or control group. The training was efficacious for mothers and children - training-group dyads made significantly greater gains in maternal strategy use, responsivity, and child print awareness than the control group. Gains were maintained one month post-training. Children whose mothers had more external baseline control perceptions identified significantly fewer print targets at baseline and made greater gains than those with more internal control perceptions. Future directions and implications are discussed.

Children with ASD can use gaze to map new words.

BACKGROUND: The conclusion that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) do not use eye gaze in the service of word learning is based on one-trial studies. AIMS: To determine whether children with ASD come to use gaze in the service of word learning when given multiple trials with highly reliable eye-gaze cues. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Fifteen children with ASD with a mean age of 59 months (range = 36-92 months) and 15 typically developing (TD) peers with a mean age of 37 months (range = 16-92 months), and matched to the ASD group on receptive vocabulary raw scores, participated in four conditions formed by crossing-gaze load (high versus low) and attention load (high versus low). The high eye-gaze load condition required the children to shift attention to the examiner and follow her gaze to fast map new words correctly. The low-gaze load did not require shift and follow behaviours. The high-attention condition involved three (as opposed to one) distracter objects. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: As compared with the TD group, a lower proportion of the ASD group shifted and followed the examiner on the initial trial of the high-gaze load condition, but there was not a significant difference between groups when shift and follow behaviours were averaged over subsequent trials, nor was there a difference between groups in fast-mapping performance. Fast-mapping outcomes were correlated with gaze shift and follow behaviours in the high-gaze load condition. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The finding that the children with ASD altered their looking behaviour over the course of the experiment suggests that children with ASD were sensitive to statistical regularities present in the examiner's gaze cues and used this information to alter their looking behaviour over the course of the experiment.

We Have to Talk About Something: Why NOT Talk About the Curriculum? A Guide to Embedding Language Interventions in Curricular Content.

PURPOSE: Children with developmental language disorder frequently have difficulty with both academic success and language learning and use. This clinical focus article describes core principles derived from a larger program of research (National Science Foundation 1748298) on language intervention combined with science instruction for preschoolers. It serves as an illustration of a model for integrating language intervention with curricular content delivery. METHOD: We present a five-step model for a speech-language pathologist and other school professionals to follow to (a) understand the grade-level core curriculum objectives; (b) align intervention targets with the curriculum; (c) select a therapy approach that aligns with both goals and curricular content, and (d) methods for implementing the intervention; and (e) verify that both the intervention and the curriculum have been provided in accordance with best practices. We apply this model to the Next Generation Science Standards, a science curriculum popular in the United States, and to grammar and vocabulary interventions, two areas of difficulty for children with developmental language disorders, though it would be possible to extend the steps to other curricular areas and intervention targets. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude by discussing the barriers and benefits to adopting this model. We recognize that both speech-language pathologists and teachers may have limited time to implement language intervention within a general education curriculum, but we suggest that the long-term benefits outweigh the barriers.

Children with ASD can use gaze in support of word recognition and learning.

BACKGROUND: Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) struggle to understand familiar words and learn unfamiliar words. We explored the extent to which these problems reflect deficient use of probabilistic gaze in the extra-linguistic context. METHOD: Thirty children with ASD and 43 with typical development (TD) participated in a spoken word recognition and mapping task. They viewed photographs of a woman behind three objects and simultaneously heard a word. For word recognition, the objects and words were familiar and the woman gazed ahead (neutral), toward the named object (facilitative), or toward an un-named object (contradictory). For word mapping, the objects and words were unfamiliar and only the neutral and facilitative conditions were employed. The children clicked on the named object, registering accuracy and reaction time. RESULTS: Speed of word recognition did not differ between groups but varied with gaze such that responses were fastest in the facilitative condition and slowest in the contradictory condition. Only the ASD group responded slower to low frequency than high-frequency words. Accuracy of word mapping did not differ between groups, but accuracy varied with gaze with higher performance in the facilitative than neutral condition. Both groups scored above single-trial chance levels in the neutral condition by tracking cross-situational information. Only in the ASD group did mapping vary with receptive vocabulary. CONCLUSIONS: Under laboratory conditions, children with ASD can monitor gaze and judge its reliability as a cue to word meaning as well as typical peers. The use of cross-situational statistics to support word learning may be problematic for those who have weak language abilities.

Wordlikeness and word learning in children with hearing loss.

BACKGROUND: The more a novel word conforms to the phonotactics of the language, the more wordlike it is and the easier it is to learn. It is unknown to what extent children with hearing loss (CHL) take advantage of phonotactic cues to support word learning. AIMS: This study investigated whether CHL had similar sensitivities to wordlikeness during a word-learning task as children with normal hearing (CNH). METHODS & PROCEDURES: Sixteen CHL and 24 CNH participated in a novel word-learning task. Novel words varied by English wordlikeness. Recall was tested using a forced-choice identification task wherein foils for each trial related semantically, lexically or not at all. Receptive vocabulary and working memory were also assessed. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: All children were able to identify high wordlike novel words more accurately than low wordlike novel words. The number of errors on identification of words that were moderate in wordlikeness was inversely correlated to vocabulary size (not working memory) and CHL had smaller vocabularies than CNH. When in error, CHL were more likely than CNH to select a semantically related foil. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Although they are sensitive to extremes in wordlikeness, compared with their peers with normal hearing, CHL present with subtle differences in word learning. Clinical implications for exploiting wordlikeness in service of word learning assessment and intervention are presented.

Children with developmental language impairment have vocabulary deficits characterized by limited breadth and depth.

BACKGROUND: Deficient vocabulary is a frequently reported symptom of developmental language impairment, but the nature of the deficit and its developmental course are not well documented. AIMS: To describe the nature of the deficit in terms of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge and to determine whether the nature and the extent of the deficit change over the school years. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A total of 25 681 oral definitions produced by 177 children with developmental language impairment (LI) and 325 grade-mates with normally developing language (ND) in grades 2, 4, 8 and 10 were taken from an existing longitudinal database. We analysed these for breadth by counting the number of words defined correctly and for depth by determining the amount of information in each correct definition. Via a linear mixed model, we determined whether breadth and depth varied with language diagnosis independent of non-verbal IQ, mothers' education level, race, gender, income and (for depth only) word. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Children with LI scored significantly lower than children with ND on breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in all grades. The extent of the deficit did not vary significantly across grades. Language diagnosis was an independent predictor of breadth and depth and as strong a predictor as maternal education. For the LI group, growth in depth relative to breadth was slower than for the ND group. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Compared with their grade-mates, children with LI have fewer words in their vocabularies and they have shallower knowledge of the words that are in their vocabularies. This deficit persists over developmental time.

A story about a word: does narrative presentation promote learning of a spatial preposition in German two-year-olds?

We trained forty German-speaking children aged 1;8-2;0 in their comprehension of UNTER [UNDER]. The target word was presented within semantically organized input in the form of a 'narrative' to the experimental group and within 'unconnected speech' to the control group. We tested children's learning by asking them to perform an UNDER-relation before, immediately after, and again one day after the training using familiarized and unfamiliarized materials. Compared to controls, the experimental group learned better and retained more. Children with advanced expressive lexicons in particular were aided in generalizing to unfamiliarized materials by the narrative presentation. This study extends our understanding of how narrations scaffold young children's enrichment of nascent word knowledge.

A First-Person Account of Developmental Language Disorder.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to share the lived experiences of an adult with developmental language disorder (DLD) and relate her experience to the evidence base and issues in clinical practice. METHOD: We co-wrote a first-person account grounded in the research literature. We organized the account into six main sections: (a) the early signs of DLD; (b) diagnosis; (c) treatment; (d) the impact of DLD on family relationships, social-emotional health, and academic performance; and (e) considerations for practicing speech-language pathologists. We close with (f) the first author's current perspective on life with DLD. CONCLUSIONS: The first author was diagnosed with moderate-to-severe DLD in early childhood, and she continues to exhibit subtle and occasional symptoms of DLD as an adult. At specific points in development, her family relationships were disrupted and her social, emotional, and academic functions were disabled, particularly in the school context. Supportive adults, especially her mother and her speech-language pathologist, helped lessen these impacts. DLD and its consequences also positively influenced her worldview and professional choices. The precise nature of her DLD and her experiences around the disorder will not be true of everyone with DLD. Nevertheless, the broad themes that emerge from her narrative are reflected in the evidence base and thus are likely applicable to many individuals with DLD or other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Abilities and Disabilities Among Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to situate developmental language disorder (DLD) within the impairment and disability framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF); describe the functional strengths and weaknesses of a cohort of first-grade children with DLD and their peers; and explore the ways that language-related disabilities relate to language impairment, developmental risk, and receipt of language services. METHOD: We queried the caregivers of 35 children with DLD and 44 peers with typical language development about their children's language-related functions, developmental risks, and language services using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods. RESULTS: The children with DLD presented with weaknesses in domains that are highly dependent upon language skill, including communication, community function, interpersonal relationships, and academics. They presented with strengths in domestic and personal aspects of daily living, play and coping aspects of socialization, and gross motor function. Caregivers of children with DLD expressed pride in their children's agentive and prosocial qualities. Consistent with the ICF, what distinguished children with DLD who had functional weaknesses and disabilities from those who had healthy function was not the severity of language impairment as measured by decontextualized tests of language skill, but the presence of cumulative developmental risks. Compared to those with healthy function, a larger portion of children with weaknesses and disabilities were receiving language services; however, two girls who had disabilities despite mild levels of impairment were without services. CONCLUSIONS: Children with DLD present with predictable strengths and weaknesses in everyday language-related functioning. For some children, the weaknesses are mild, but for others, they limit function to a greater extent and should be considered disabilities. The severity of language impairment is not a strong indicator of language-related function and, therefore, is not a good metric for determining service qualification.

The Relationship Between Speech Perception, Speech Production, and Vocabulary Abilities in Children: Insights From By-Group and Continuous Analyses.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between speech perception, speech production, and vocabulary abilities in children with and without speech sound disorders (SSDs), analyzing the data both by group and continuously. METHOD: Sixty-one Australian English-speaking children aged 48-69 months participated in this study. Children's speech production abilities ranged along the continuum from SSDs through to typical speech. Their vocabulary abilities ranged along the continuum from typical to above average ("lexically precocious"). Children completed routine speech and language assessments in addition to an experimental Australian English lexical and phonetic judgment task. RESULTS: When analyzing data by group, there was no significant difference between the speech perception ability of children with SSDs and that of children without SSDs. Children with above-average vocabularies had significantly better speech perception ability than children with average vocabularies. When analyzing data continuously, speech production and vocabulary were both significant positive predictors of variance in speech perception ability, both individually in simple linear regression and when combined in multiple linear regression. There was also a significant positive correlation between perception and production of two of the four target phonemes tested (i.e., /k/ and /ʃ/) among children in the SSD group. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study provide further insight into the complex relationship between speech perception, speech production, and vocabulary abilities in children. While there is a clinical and important need for categorical distinctions between SSDs and typically developing speech, findings further highlight the value of investigating speech production and vocabulary abilities continuously and categorically. By capturing the heterogeneity among children's speech production and vocabulary abilities, we can advance our understanding of SSDs in children. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22229674.

What Children with Developmental Language Disorder Teach Us About Cross-Situational Word Learning.

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) served as a test case for determining the role of extant vocabulary knowledge, endogenous attention, and phonological working memory abilities in cross-situational word learning. First-graders (Mage = 7 years; 3 months), 44 with typical development (TD) and 28 with DLD, completed a cross-situational word-learning task comprised six cycles, followed by retention tests and independent assessments of attention, memory, and vocabulary. Children with DLD scored lower than those with TD on all measures of learning and retention, a performance gap that emerged in the first cycle of the cross-situational protocol and that we attribute to weaknesses in initial encoding. Over cycles, children with DLD learned words at a similar rate as their TD peers but they were less flexible in their strategy use, demonstrating a propose-but-verify approach but never a statistical aggregation approach. Also, they drew upon different mechanisms to support their learning. Attention played a greater role for the children with DLD, whereas extant vocabulary size played a greater role for the children with TD. Children navigate the problem space of cross-situational learning via varied routes. This conclusion is offered as motivation for theorists to capture all learners, not just the most typical ones.

Direct Instruction Improves Word Learning for Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

PURPOSE: The current study compared the effects of direct instruction versus indirect exposure on multiple aspects of novel word learning for children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and children with typical language development (TLD). METHOD: Participants included 36 children with DLD and 45 children with TLD. All children were in the first grade and 6-8 years of age (Mdn = 7 years; 2 months). Using a between-subjects design, children were randomly assigned to be exposed to novel words and their unfamiliar referents via either direct instruction (each referent presented in isolation with an explicit goal of learning) or indirect exposure (multiple referents presented with the goal of answering yes/no questions). RESULTS: In alternative forced-choice measures of recognition, children with DLD were less accurate than their TLD peers in linking words to referents, encoding semantic categories for words, and encoding detailed representations of word forms. These differences in word learning were accounted for by a constellation of cognitive measures, including receptive vocabulary, phonological memory, visuospatial memory, and sustained attention. All children were similarly accurate in retaining word forms over a 24- to 48-hr delay. Children with TLD were more accurate in all aspects of word learning following direct instruction compared to indirect exposure. Benefits from direct instruction were observed for children with DLD in link and semantic, but not word form, learning. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that vocabulary interventions with direct instruction can help children with DLD learn some, but not all, aspects of novel words. Additional support is necessary to help children with DLD encode rich phonological representations.

Early Phonological Neural Specialization Predicts Later Growth in Word Reading Skills.

According to the Interactive Specialization Theory, cognitive skill development is facilitated by a process of neural specialization. In line with this theory, the current study investigated whether neural specialization for phonological and semantic processing at 5-to-6 years old was predictive of growth in word reading skills 2 years later. Specifically, four regression models were estimated in which reading growth was predicted from: (1) an intercept-only model; (2) measures of semantic and phonological neural specialization; (3) performance on semantic and phonological behavioral tasks; or (4) a combination of neural specialization and behavioral performance. Results from the preregistered analyses revealed little evidence in favor of the hypothesis that early semantic and phonological skills are predictive of growth in reading. However, results from the exploratory analyses, which included a larger sample, added age at Time 1 as a covariate, and investigated relative growth in reading, demonstrated decisive evidence that variability in phonological processing is predictive of reading growth. The best fitting model included both measures of specialization within the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and behavioral performance. This work provides important evidence in favor of the Interactive Specialization Theory and, more specifically, for the role of phonological neural specialization in the development of early word reading skills.

Optimising word learning in post-secondary students with Developmental Language Disorder: The roles of retrieval difficulty and retrieval success during training.

PURPOSE: Learning words to the level that they can be readily retrieved and produced can be challenging. The primary aim of the current study is to determine how retrieval difficulty, based on the level of cuing provided, and retrieval success during training relate to the phonological precision with which words are produced after a delay. METHOD: We performed additional analyses on data from McGregor, Gordon, Eden, Arbisi-Kelm, & Oleson, (Encoding deficits impede word learning and memory in adults with Developmental Language Disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60, 2891-2905) in which post-secondary students with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD, n = 23) and typical development (n = 25) were trained on words via free and cued recall practice and tested 24-h later. RESULTS: Training via free recall led to more precise productions after the delay than training via cued recall for both groups. Additionally, the number of successful retrievals during training positively predicted retrieval after the delay. Furthermore, the precision of participants' last production and worst production of each word were the best predictors of production precision after the delay. CONCLUSION: To optimally support encoding and delayed retrieval, students with and without DLD should utilise free recall practice. Additionally, words should be studied until they are successfully retrieved multiple times at a high level of phonological precision to support delayed retrieval.

The Challenge of Rich Vocabulary Instruction for Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose The aims of the study were to explore responses of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) to rich vocabulary instruction and to identify potential factors that contribute to outcomes. Method Children with DLD participated in a language intervention embedded within a science camp. Using parent and clinician reports, standardized tests, probes, notes, and video, we derived descriptions of seven of the campers who received a vocabulary intervention that incorporated principles of rich instruction. We present them here as a case series. Results Five cases responded to the intervention with modest gains in Tier 2 science vocabulary and science knowledge. One case demonstrated no response, and another was unable to complete the intervention. The latter two cases presented with triple risks: DLD, executive function deficits, and stressors associated with poverty. In comparison, the best responder also lived in poverty and had DLD, but he had intact executive function, strengths in extant vocabulary, stronger knowledge of science, better engagement in the science and language intervention activities, and was older. Other factors that seemed to contribute to outcomes included the complexity of the word forms and dosage. Conclusions Translating research on rich instruction to clinical practice is challenging. This case series motivated hypotheses about the nature of the challenge and what to do about it, the primary one being that the modest success of rich vocabulary instruction for children with DLD is not a limitation of the approach itself but rather a reflection of the difficulty of delivering the intervention while tailoring the targets, approach, and dosage to the needs of individual children with DLD. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13667699.

Children's language abilities predict success in remote communication contexts.

Remote communicative contexts are part of everyday social, familial, and academic interactions for the modern child. We investigated the ability of second-graders to engage in remote discourse, and we determined whether language ability, theory of mind, and shy temperament predicted their success. Fifty 7-to-9-year-old monolingual English speakers with a wide range of language abilities participated in standardized testing and an expository discourse task in which they taught two adults to solve the Tower of London, one in an audiovisual condition to simulate video chat and a second in an audio-only condition to simulate phone communication. The discourse was scored with a rubric of 15 items deemed relevant to the explanation. Children included 27% to 87% of the items, with more items communicated via gesture than spoken word in both conditions. Gesture scores and spoken scores were highly correlated. Children specified more rubric items overall in the audio condition and more rubric items in the spoken modality when in the audio condition than the audiovisual condition. Performance in both conditions was positively associated with scores on independent measures of language ability. There was no relationship between performance and theory of mind, shy temperament, ability to solve the Tower of London, age, or sex. We conclude that 7-to-9-year-olds adjust the modality and content of their message to suit their remote partner's needs, but their success in remote discourse contexts varies significantly from individual to individual. Children with below-average language skills are at risk for functional impairments in remote communication.