Here’s some recent language learning news that I’ve found interesting: 

Talking helps language development more than reading alone – Although the conclusion of this UCLA study seems almost blatantly obvious, there is a significant implication, which is that the importance of talking to children has been obscured by the recent emphasis on reading with children.  The study found that back-and-forth conversation was strongly associated with future improvements in the child’s language score.  Conversely, adult monologueing, such as monologic reading, was more weakly associated with language development.  TV viewing had no effect on language development, positive or negative.  The study’s lead author, Dr. Frederick J. Zimmerman noted, “What’s new here is the finding that the effect of adult-child conversations was roughly six times as potent at fostering good language development as adult speech input alone.”

Inattentive behaviors in young children with autism predict lower later language development – The authors of this study, from the University of British Columbia, looked at autism from a different perspective than most previous research.  Rather than focusing on social and linguistic aspects of autism, the authors looked at five types of inappropriate behaviors and how these behaviors predicted later language development.  The study looked at some behaviors that parents and teachers frequently focus on, such as acting out, resistance to change, and socially unresponsive behavior, but the one that best predicted later language difficulties was inattentiveness.   This is strikingly significant for autism intervention.  Why is inattentiveness such a large problem?  Creating a desire to change is critical with these children.  Often, current intervention practices target making autistic children communicate (such as in ABA therapy), instead of trying to convince these kids to want to communicate.

Gene found to be associated with language, speech, and reading disorders – The gene in question is found on Chromosome 6.  The significance is that variability in the gene was associated with both language and reading disorders, but not other disorders, such as autism or hearing impairment.  Mabel Rice, from the University of Kansas, Shelley Smith, from the University of Nebraska, and Javier Gayán of Neocodex, Seville, Spain led a team of researchers that is part of a 20 year research program that is being funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, one of the National Institutes of Health.

This link courtesy of USA Today – 1 in 7 adults in America can’t read material more challenging than a children’s picture book.  While some states, such as Mississippi actually made gains since the last similar federal study from 1992, many larger states saw increases in illiteracy.  Undiagnosed learning disabilities, immigration, and high school dropout rates are listed as the main culprits.

Time Magazine reviews two related books here.  One book, by Hanna Holmes, details the many ways that humans are really just animals with fancier language skills.  While Holmes attempts to describe humans using language normally reserved for animals, Temple Grandin does just the opposite.   Grandin, a skilled author noted for her autistic background, describes animals using language normally reserved for humans.  Both books seem interesting; the article itself is a good read.

The New York Times, and New York Times Magazine have hosted a couple of pieces by Steven Pinker in the last few weeks – one on how Chief Justice Roberts’ gaffe in administering the oath of office occurred precisely because Roberts is such a stickler for proper grammar.  His mistake of accidentally attempting to correct the Constitution illustrates the potential dangers of nitpicking language.  In the other, Pinker entertainingly digresses concerning the likely influence of genetics over our personalities.  Usually these influences are more probabilistic rather than deterministic.

Rice psychologist identifies area of brain key to choosing words in this link.

Specifically, The researchers found that while two parts of the brain, the LIFG and the left temporal cortex, respond to increased conflict among words competing for selection during speech, only the LIFG is necessary to resolve the competition for successful word production. The LIFG includes Broca’s area, named after the 19th-century French scientist Paul Pierre Broca. It is responsible for aspects of speech production, language processing and language comprehension.

Study Looks at if Using Signs May Slow Language Learning

An international team led by Jana Iverson of the University of Pittsburgh, compared language learning between Italian children and American children, after first determining that Italian children do grow up using more gestures.  The study found that American children consistently use more words, and combine words more often.  The difference, however, was accounted for by the larger use of gestures in the Italian children.

The main implication seems to be this – gestures don’t slow language learning, and they don’t negatively impact one’s ability to communicate within a society in which everyone uses a lot of gestures.  As someone who works with young children with language impairments, I’ve seen a lot of practicioners encouraging the use of signs in children that weren’t verbally communicating.  This gnawed at me, but I couldn’t put my finger on why exactly until reading Cogntive Daily’s excellent summary of this study.  Teaching signs rather than oral language does not necessarily inhibit a child’s ability to learn language, but it does inhibit a child’s ability to communicate to others that don’t use signs.  This is not a problem in Italy where gesture use is the norm, but it does imply that in the U.S. where the norm is not to use signs, that for a child struggling to learn language, the use of gestures should only occur as an absolute last resort.

First magnetic field brain scanner opens for operation in Australia.

Cognitive scientists from Macquarie University will use a brain imaging system called MEG, or magnetoencephalography – the first brain imaging system specifically designed for children’s smaller head sizes – to discover how much of our language ability is learned from experience, and how much is part of our biological make-up.  Professor Stephen Crain, Director of the Centre for Language Sciences, and Deputy Director of the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science (MACCS), said the child MEG system promises to lead to major advances in our understanding of children’s knowledge of language.  

According to Crain, ”Until now, it’s been impossible to investigate young children’s knowledge of language, because young children can’t tell us about what they are hearing. Now, using the child MEG, we can witness precisely what’s going on in the brain of a child without requiring the child to communicate what they are experiencing.”   Full Story Here