Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have interesting and unexplained deficits in their acquisition of grammatical morphemes. It is the purpose of the proposed project to explore the nature of this grammatical deficit and how it may interact with other components of the grammar. The proposed studies are designed to identify particular morphosyntactic deficits characteristic of SLI children.
The specific aims are to evaluate predictions drawn from two new hypotheses, Extended Optionality and Missing Constraints. The hypotheses are drawn from current linguistic models of morphosyntax and normal children's acquisition patterns. Targeted grammatical features are tense, agreement, case, copula/auxiliary, and determiners. The work will proceed in two paths. Path 1 will consist of analyses of an existing transcript database containing spontaneous language samples from 101 5- year-old SLI children, 104 language-matched normal controls (a mean age of 36 months), and 21 normal age-matched controls. Path 2 will consist of an experi-longitudinal study, in which experimental grammatical probes will be collected from 20 4-year-old SLI children and equal numbers of language-matched and age-matched controls. Spontaneous language samples will also be collected. These children will be followed for 4 years, for a total of seven measurement times. The predictions will be tested in interrelated cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. The findings would be relevant for clinical identification of SLI individuals, for the development of sensitive assessment batteries, and for the design of effective intervention techniques. A further outcome will be compilation of an archival database on SLI children and their normal control groups, which would be a scientific resource available to other investigators.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01DC001803-01A1
Application #
3218414
Study Section
Human Development and Aging Subcommittee 3 (HUD)
Project Start
1993-08-01
Project End
1997-07-31
Budget Start
1993-08-01
Budget End
1994-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1993
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Kansas Lawrence
Department
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
072933393
City
Lawrence
State
KS
Country
United States
Zip Code
66045
Rice, Mabel L; Russell, Jonathan S; Frederick, Toni et al. (2018) Risk for Speech and Language Impairments in Preschool Age HIV-exposed Uninfected Children With In Utero Combination Antiretroviral Exposure. Pediatr Infect Dis J 37:678-685
Rice, Mabel L (2016) Specific Language Impairment, Nonverbal IQ, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cochlear Implants, Bilingualism, and Dialectal Variants: Defining the Boundaries, Clarifying Clinical Conditions, and Sorting Out Causes. J Speech Lang Hear Res 59:122-32
Rice, Mabel L; Hoffman, Lesa (2015) Predicting vocabulary growth in children with and without specific language impairment: a longitudinal study from 2;6 to 21 years of age. J Speech Lang Hear Res 58:345-59
Abel, Alyson D; Rice, Mabel L; Bontempo, Daniel E (2015) Effects of verb familiarity on finiteness marking in children with specific language impairment. J Speech Lang Hear Res 58:360-72
Ash, Andrea C; Rice, Mabel L; Redmond, Sean M (2014) Effect of language context on ratings of shy and unsociable behaviors in English language learner children. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch 45:52-66
Rice, Mabel L; Zeldow, Bret; Siberry, George K et al. (2013) Evaluation of risk for late language emergence after in utero antiretroviral drug exposure in HIV-exposed uninfected infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J 32:e406-13
Rice, Mabel L (2013) Language growth and genetics of specific language impairment. Int J Speech Lang Pathol 15:223-33
Rice, Mabel L; Blossom, Megan (2013) What do children with specific language impairment do with multiple forms of DO? J Speech Lang Hear Res 56:222-35
Rice, Mabel L (2012) Toward epigenetic and gene regulation models of specific language impairment: looking for links among growth, genes, and impairments. J Neurodev Disord 4:27
Rice, Mabel L; Buchanan, Ashley L; Siberry, George K et al. (2012) Language impairment in children perinatally infected with HIV compared to children who were HIV-exposed and uninfected. J Dev Behav Pediatr 33:112-23

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