Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) has been explained as either a deficit deriving from an abstract representational deficit or as emerging from difficulties in acquiring and coordinating multiple interacting cues guiding learning. These competing explanations are often difficult to decide between when tested on European languages. This paper reports an experimental study of relative clause (RC) production in Cantonese-speaking children with and without DLD, which enabled us to test multiple developmental predictions derived from one prominent theory - emergentism. Children with DLD (N = 22; aged 6;6-9;7) were compared with age-matched typically-developing peers (N = 23) and language-matched, typically-developing children (N = 21; aged 4;7-7;6) on a sentence repetition task. Results showed that children\'s production across multiple RC types was influenced by structural frequency, general semantic complexity, and the linear order of constituents, with the DLD group performing worse than their age-matched and language-matched peers. The results are consistent with the emergentist explanation of DLD.

This article aims to assist practitioners in understanding dyslexia and other reading difficulties and assessing students\' learning needs. We describe the essential components of language and literacy, universal screening, diagnostic assessments, curriculum-based measurement and eligibility determination. We then introduce four diagnostic assessments as examples, including norm-referenced assessments (i.e. the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing second edition and the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement) and criterion-referenced assessments (i.e. the Gallistel-Ellis Test of Coding Skills and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). Finally, We use a makeup case as a concrete example to illustrate how multiple diagnostic assessments are recorded and how the results can be used to inform intervention and eligibility for special education services.

To investigate how language deteriorates over the Alzheimer\'s Disease course.
A cross-sectional, observational study was carried out. 35 patients diagnosed with dementia due to AD using the NINCDS-ARDRA criteria and undergoing treatment for AD with a therapeutic dose of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors were assessed by the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE). The sample comprised 15 patients with mild AD (MMSE > 23, CDR = 0 or 0.5‒1.0) and 20 patients with moderate AD (MMSE = 13‒23, CDR = 2). The results for the 2 groups on all language tasks were compared.
A statistically significant difference was found between the mild and moderate AD groups for total score on the BDAE (95% CI 47.10‒114.08, t = 5.0, DF = 21, p = 0.000*), as well as on several tasks involving oral and writing comprehension, language oral expression and writing.
The study results showed major changes in the moderate stage. Also, the decline in language performance correlated with the worsening of dementia syndrome, independently of sociodemographic variables.

UNASSIGNED: We investigated the effectiveness of a highly individualized morphosyntactic intervention using the SHAPE CODING™ system delivered at different dosages.
UNASSIGNED: Eight children with developmental language disorder aged 8;0-10;10 (years;months) received 10 hr of explicit individualized intervention for morphosyntax delivered in 30-min individual sessions once per week for 20 weeks. Following at least four baseline probe tests, two grammatical targets per session received explicit instruction until they reached criterion (90%), when the next target was introduced. To control for session length and teaching episode density, either both targets received 20 teaching episodes per session or one target received 10 teaching episodes and the other 30. Maintenance testing of completed targets was also carried out.
UNASSIGNED: Scores on probe tests post-intervention were significantly higher than during the baseline phase (d = 1.6) with no change during the baseline or maintenance phases. However, progress during the intervention phase was highly significant. One participant showed significantly faster progress with intervention, while one (with the lowest attention score) made little progress. When considering progress relative to cumulative intervention sessions, progress was faster with 30 teaching episodes per session and slower with 10. However, when cumulative teaching episodes were used as the predictor, all three within-session dosages showed very similar rates of progress, with the odds of a correct response increasing by 3.9% for each teaching episode. The targets that were achieved required an average of 40-60 teaching episodes.
UNASSIGNED: With the exception of one participant, the individualized intervention was highly effective and efficient. Thus, the individualized target identification process and intervention method merit further research in a larger group of children. The cumulative number of teaching episodes per target provided across sessions appeared to be key. Thus, clinicians should aim for high teaching episode rates, particularly if the number of sessions is constrained. Otherwise, intervention scheduling can be flexible.
UNASSIGNED: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25996168.

UNASSIGNED: We investigated and compared the outcomes from two standardized, norm-referenced screening assessments of language (i.e., Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-Second Edition [CELFP-2], Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation-Screening Test [DELV-ST]) with African American preschoolers whose spoken dialect differed from that of General American English (GAE). We (a) described preschoolers\' performance on the CELFP-2 Core Language Index (CLI) and its subtests with consideration of degree of dialect variation (DVAR) observed, (b) investigated how the application of dialect-sensitive scoring modifications to the expressive morphology and syntax Word Structure (WS) subtest affected CELFP-2 CLI scores, and (c) evaluated the screening classification agreement rates between the DELV-ST and the CELFP-2 CLI.
UNASSIGNED: African American preschoolers (N = 284) completed the CELFP-2 CLI subtests (i.e., Sentence Structure, WS, Expressive Vocabulary) and the DELV-ST. Density of spoken dialect use was estimated with the DELV-ST Part I Language Variation Status, and percentage of DVAR was calculated. The CELFP-2 WS subtest was scored with and without dialect-sensitive scoring modifications.
UNASSIGNED: Planned comparisons of CELFP-2 CLI performance indicated statistically significant differences in performance based on DELV-ST-determined degree of language variation groupings. Scoring modifications applied to the WS subtest increased subtest scaled scores and CLI composite standard scores. However, preschoolers who demonstrated strong variation from GAE continued to demonstrate significantly lower performance than preschoolers who demonstrated little to no language variation. Affected-status agreement rates between assessments (modified and unmodified CELFP-2 CLI scores and DELV-ST Part II Diagnostic Risk Status) were extremely low.
UNASSIGNED: The application of dialect-specific scoring modifications to standardized, norm-referenced assessments of language must be simultaneously viewed through the lenses of equity, practicality, and psychometry. The results of our multistage study reiterate the need for reliable methods of identifying risk for developmental language disorder within children who speak American English dialects other than GAE.
UNASSIGNED: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26017978.

UNASSIGNED: This study explored the use of an automated language analysis tool, FLUCALC, for measuring fluency in aphasia. The purpose was to determine whether CLAN\'s FLUCALC command could produce efficient, objective outcome measures for salient aspects of fluency in aphasia.
UNASSIGNED: The FLUCALC command was used on CHAT transcripts of Cinderella stories from people with aphasia (PWA; n = 281) and controls (n = 257) in the AphasiaBank database.
UNASSIGNED: PWA produced significantly fewer total words, fewer words per minute, more pausing, more repetitions, more revisions, and more phonological fragments than controls, with only one exception: The Wernicke\'s group was similar to the control group in percentage of filled pauses. Individuals with Broca\'s aphasia had significantly longer inter-utterance pauses and fewer total words than all other aphasia groups. Both the Broca\'s and conduction aphasia groups had higher percentages of phrase repetitions than the NABW (NotAphasicByWAB) group. The conduction aphasia group also had a higher percentage of phrase revisions than the NABW and the anomic aphasia groups. Principal components analysis revealed two principal components that accounted for around 60% of the variance and related to quantity of output, rate of speech, and quality of output. The Gaussian mixture models showed that the participants clustered in three groups, which corresponded predominantly to the controls, the nonfluent aphasia group, and the remaining aphasia groups (all classically fluent aphasia types).
UNASSIGNED: FLUCALC is an efficient way to measure objective fluency behaviors in language samples in aphasia. Automated analyses of objective fluency behaviors on large samples of adults with and without aphasia can produce measures that can be used by researchers and clinicians to better understand and track salient aspects of fluency in aphasia.
UNASSIGNED: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25979863.

OBJECTIVE: To develop on intervention process to identify children at risk of dyslexia, based on the Response to Intervention model. Specifically, to identify the pattern of changes in post-intervention performance in tasks of phonological awareness, working memory, lexical access, reading and writing; and to analyze which cognitive functions had a significant effect on the discriminating students at risk of dyslexia.
METHODS: Sample of 30 participants with Reading and writing difficulties, aged 8-11, from public/private schools, students from 3rd to 5th grade. Participants were submitted to a battery of cognitive-linguistic tests, before and after 12 intervention sessions. To monitor their performance, five reading and writing lists of words and pseudowords were applied. We qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the differences in pre- and post-intervention performance of each participant; and among participants in the post-assessment, to understand the patterns of dyslexia vs non-dyslexia groups.
RESULTS: There were statistically significant changes in: rapid automatized naming, narrative text comprehension, phonological awareness, rate and typology of hits/misses in reading and writing, and reading speed. Being the last three variables the most sensitive to discriminate the two groups, all with less post-intervention gains for the dyslexia group.
CONCLUSIONS: The intervention focused on the stimulation of phonological skills and explicit and systematic teaching of graphophonemic correspondences contributed positively to the evolution of the group\'s participants. The intervention response approach favored the identification of children with a profile at risk for dyslexia, as distinct from children with other learning difficulties.
OBJECTIVE: desenvolver um processo de intervenção para identificação de crianças em risco para dislexia, baseado no modelo de resposta à intervenção. Especificamente, identificar o perfil de mudança no desempenho pós-intervenção em tarefas de consciência fonológica, memória operacional, acesso lexical, leitura, escrita; e analisar quais funções cognitivas tiveram efeito significativo para discriminação de estudantes em risco para dislexia.
UNASSIGNED: amostra composta por 30 participantes com dificuldades na leitura e escrita, entre 8 e 11 anos, de escola pública ou particular, estudantes do 3º ao 5º ano. Todos foram submetidos a uma bateria de testes cognitivo-linguísticos, antes e após a realização de 12 sessões de intervenção. Para monitoramento do desempenho foram aplicadas cinco listas de leitura e escrita de palavras/pseudopalavras. Foram realizadas análises, qualitativas e quantitativas, das diferenças de desempenho pré e pós-intervenção; e entre os participantes na pós avaliação, para compreensão de grupos perfil em risco para dislexia vs não-dislexia.
RESULTS: ocorreram mudanças estatisticamente significativas em nomeação automática rápida, compreensão de texto, consciência fonológica, taxa e tipologia de acertos/erros na leitura/escrita e velocidade de leitura. Sendo essas três últimas variáveis as que se mostraram mais discriminativas dos grupos, todas com menos ganhos na pós-intervenção para o grupo com perfil em risco de dislexia.
UNASSIGNED: a intervenção com foco na estimulação das habilidades fonológicas e ensino explícito das correspondências grafofonêmicas contribuiu para a evolução dos participantes. A abordagem de resposta à intervenção favoreceu a identificação de crianças com perfil em risco para dislexia, as diferenciando de crianças com outras dificuldades de aprendizagem.

UNASSIGNED: We describe the communication challenges of four patients with a neurodegenerative disorder consistent with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), characterized by early behavioral and personality changes. By describing their clinical profiles, we identify common barriers to functional communication in this population and provide recommendations for how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) might contribute to minimizing them.
UNASSIGNED: Four patients with bvFTD were selected from a cohort of patients with progressive communication impairments. Three of them returned for at least one follow-up visit. Case histories are presented along with the results of comprehensive speech and language, neuropsychological, and neurological testing.
UNASSIGNED: At the time of initial evaluation, patients were between the ages of 54 and 66 years and had been experiencing symptoms for 1.5-6 years. Consistent with their bvFTD diagnoses, all patients had prominent behavioral and personality changes that impacted communication. Patients 1 and 2 also had mild aphasia at enrollment, primarily characterized by anomia and loss of word meaning. Patients 3 and 4 both had apraxia of speech and moderate-to-severe aphasia at enrollment with prominent anomia and agrammatism. All four patients had impaired executive functioning and relative sparing of visuospatial skills; episodic memory was also impaired for Patients 2 and 4. Even though functional communication was progressively limited for all patients, none of them received regular support from an SLP.
UNASSIGNED: This case series adds to a scant, but growing, literature demonstrating that patients with bvFTD have communication impairments. SLPs are uniquely positioned to identify barriers to functional communication and to provide tailored strategy training to the patients and their care partners over the course of their disease. Systematic evaluation of the efficacy of treatment in this population would be valuable.
UNASSIGNED: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25933762.

UNASSIGNED: This longitudinal study investigated the trajectory of Spanish article accuracy in Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs) from preschool to first grade, addressing the need for longitudinal data on the variability of Spanish grammatical skills in DLLs in English immersion classrooms.
UNASSIGNED: Language sample analysis was conducted on 336 Spanish and English narrative retells elicited from 31 Spanish-English DLLs (range: 45-85 months). Growth curve models captured within- and between-individual change in article accuracy from the beginning of preschool to the end of first grade.
UNASSIGNED: As a group, DLLs did not exhibit significant positive or negative growth in Spanish article accuracy over time. On average, article accuracy remained stable at 76% from preschool throughout first grade. Participants exhibited significant variability in article accuracy that was partly explained by changes in Spanish proficiency. Spanish article accuracy was lower for DLLs with lower Spanish proficiency indexed by measures from the Spanish language samples, while English proficiency indexed by the English language samples did not affect Spanish article accuracy.
UNASSIGNED: These findings suggest that expectations for Spanish grammatical performance in DLLs need to be adjusted to account for the possible impact of not receiving Spanish support in English immersion school settings. DLLs in these instructional programs do not exhibit article accuracy at a level expected for monolingual Spanish speakers. Significant individual differences in both individual status and growth rates of Spanish article accuracy highlight the broad variability in Spanish language skills of DLLs in the United States.

UNASSIGNED: Prior work has identified weaknesses in commonly used indices of lexical diversity in spoken language samples, such as type-token ratio (TTR) due to sample size and elicitation variation, we explored whether TTR and other diversity measures, such as number of different words/100 (NDW), vocabulary diversity (VocD), and the moving average TTR would be more sensitive to child age and clinical status (typically developing [TD] or developmental language disorder [DLD]) if samples were obtained from standardized prompts.
UNASSIGNED: We utilized archival data from the norming samples of the Test of Narrative Language and the Edmonton Narrative Norms Instrument. We examined lexical diversity and other linguistic properties of the samples, from a total of 1,048 children, ages 4-11 years; 798 of these were considered TD, whereas 250 were categorized as having a language learning disorder.
UNASSIGNED: TTR was the least sensitive to child age or diagnostic group, with good potential to misidentify children with DLD as TD and TD children as having DLD. Growth slopes of NDW were shallow and not very sensitive to diagnostic grouping. The strongest performing measure was VocD. Mean length of utterance, TNW, and verbs/utterance did show both good growth trajectories and ability to distinguish between clinical and typical samples.
UNASSIGNED: This study, the largest and best controlled to date, re-affirms that TTR should not be used in clinical decision making with children. A second popular measure, NDW, is not measurably stronger in terms of its psychometric properties. Because the most sensitive measure of lexical diversity, VocD, is unlikely to gain popularity because of reliance on computer-assisted analysis, we suggest alternatives for the appraisal of children\'s expressive vocabulary skill.