Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-30T11:19:39.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Language Trajectories in Childhood

The Nature and Drivers of Individual Differences and Their Implications for Intervention

from Part Two - Continuity and Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

James Law
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Sheena Reilly
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Cristina McKean
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Get access

Summary

Whilst child language research has a long history of the examination of developmental change, it is only relatively recently that research methods have been employed that allow us to understand the nature and drivers of individual differences in child language development across a population. This chapter presents findings from studies examining children’s language trajectories from early childhood to adolescence using data from epidemiological studies in which large, population-ascertained samples are followed prospectively. Findings from studies using epidemiological methods to examine individual differences in child language trajectories are identified, and how these findings can inform public health models of intervention, considering primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, is considered. First, the implications for the design of services for pre-school children (0–4 years) is considered. Key learning points to methods for targeting interventions and the identification of potential levers for language growth which could be harnessed for preventative intervention. The chapter then turns to language trajectories in school-age children (here 4–11 years) and discusses the identification of those most in need of additional support and examines what intervention and trajectory research together tell us about the best targets for interventions. Recommendations for services and priorities for research are then identified.

Type
Chapter
Information
Language Development
Individual Differences in a Social Context
, pp. 259 - 280
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adamson, L. B., Bakeman, R., Deckner, D. F., & Nelson, P. B. (2014). From interactions to conversations: The development of joint engagement during early childhood. Child Development, 85(3), 941955.Google Scholar
Ambridge, B., & Lieven, E. V. M. (2011). Child language acquisition: Contrasting theoretical approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ambridge, B., & Rowland, C. F. (2013). Experimental methods in studying child language acquisition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 4(2), 149168.Google Scholar
Axford, N., Sonthalia, S., Wrigley, Z., Goodwin, A., Ohlson, C., Bjornstad, G., … & Toft, A. (2015). The best start at home. Early Intervention Foundation evidence. London: Early Intervention Foundation.Google Scholar
Beitchman, J. H., Jiang, H., Koyama, E., Johnson, C. J., Escobar, M., Atkinson, L., … & Vida, R. (2008). Models and determinants of vocabulary growth from kindergarten to adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(6), 626634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beitchman, J. H., Nair, R., Clegg, M., & Patel, P. G. (1986). Prevalence of speech and language disorders in 5-year-old kindergarten children in the Ottawa-Carleton region. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 51, 98110.Google Scholar
Beitchman, J. H., Wilson, B., Brownlie, E. B., Walters, H., Inglis, A., & Lancee, W. (1996). Long-term consistency in speech/language profiles: II. Behavioral, emotional, and social outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35(6), 815825.Google Scholar
Bishop, D. V. M., & Edmundson, A. (1987). Language-impaired 4-year-olds: Distinguishing transient from persistent impairment. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 52(2), 156173.Google Scholar
Bishop, D. V. M., Snowling, M. J., Thompson, P. A., Greenhalgh, T., & CATALISE Consortium. (2017). Phase 2 of CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study of problems with language development: Terminology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(10), 10681080.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C. S., & Putnick, D. L. (2016a). Long-term stability of core language skill in children with contrasting language skills. Developmental Psychology, 52(5), 704716.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C. S., & Putnick, D. L. (2016b). Stability of core language skill across the first decade of life in children at biological and social risk. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 57(12), 14341443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cameron-Faulkner, T., Theakston, A., Lieven, E., & Tomasello, M. (2015). The relationship between infant holdout and gives, and pointing. Infancy, 20(5), 576586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cirrin, F. M., & Gillam, R. B. (2008). Language intervention practices for school-age children with spoken language disorders: A systematic review. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 39, S110S137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Commission on Social Determinants of Health. (2008). CSDH final report: Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Dale, P. S., Tosto, M. G., Hayiou-Thomas, M. E., & Plomin, R. (2015). Why does parental language input style predict child language development? A twin study of gene–environment correlation. Journal of Communication Disorders, 57, 106117.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. R. (1877). A biographical sketch of an infant. Mind. A Quarterly Review of Psychology and Philosophy, 2, 285294.Google Scholar
Department for Communities and Local Government. (2010). The English Indices of Deprivation 2010. www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/indices2010Google Scholar
Eadie, P., Conway, L., Hallenstein, B., Mensah, F., McKean, C., & Reilly, S. (2018). Quality of life in children with developmental language disorder. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 53, 799810.Google Scholar
Fellinghauer, B., Reinhardt, J. D., Stucki, G., & Bickenbach, J. (2012). Explaining the disability paradox: A cross-sectional analysis of the Swiss general population. BMC Public Health, 12(1), 655.Google Scholar
Fenson, L., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S., Thal, D. J., Bates, E., Hartung, J. P., … & Reilly, J. (1997). MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: User’s guide and technical manual San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing.Google Scholar
Golinkoff, R. M., Hoff, E., Rowe, M. L., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2018). Talking with children matters: Defending the 30 million word gap. Brookings: Education plus Development, May 21.Google Scholar
Henrichs, J., Rescorla, L., Schenk, J. J., Schmidt, H. G., Jaddoe, V. W. V., Hofman, A., … & Tiemeier, H. (2011). Examining continuity of early expressive vocabulary development: The generation R study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(3), 854869.Google Scholar
Hudson, S., Levickis, P., Down, K., Nicholls, R., & Wake, M. (2015). Maternal responsiveness predicts child language at ages 3 and 4 in a community-based sample of slow-to-talk toddlers. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 50(1), 136142.Google Scholar
Kiernan, K. E., & Mensah, F. (2011). Poverty, family resources and children’s early educational attainment: The mediating role of parenting. British Educational Research Journal, 37(2), 317336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, J., Garrett, Z., & Nye, C. (2010). Speech and language therapy interventions for children with primary speech and language delay or disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2010(5), CD004110.Google Scholar
Law, J., McBean, K., & Rush, R. (2011). Communication skills in a population of primary school‐aged children raised in an area of pronounced social disadvantage. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 46(6), 657664.Google Scholar
Law, J., McKean, C., Murphy, C. A., & Thordardottir, E. (2019). Managing children with developmental language disorder: Theory and practice across Europe and beyond. London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Law, J., Reilly, S., & Snow, P. C. (2013). Child speech, language and communication needs re-examined in a public health context: A new direction for the speech and language therapy profession. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 48(5), 486496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, J., Rush, R., Anandan, C., Cox, M., & Wood, R. (2012). Predicting language change between 3 and 5 years and its implications for early identification. Pediatrics, 130(1), 132137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Law, J., Rush, R., Schoon, I., & Parsons, S. (2009). Modeling developmental language difficulties from school entry into adulthood: Literacy, mental health, and employment outcomes. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52(6), 14011416.Google Scholar
Levickis, P., McKean, C., Walls, E., & Law, J. (2019). Training community health nurses to measure parent–child interaction: A mixed-methods study. European Journal of Public Health, 30(3), 445450.Google Scholar
Levickis, P., Reilly, S., Girolametto, L., Ukoumunne, O., & Wake, M. (2014). Maternal behaviors that promote early language acquisition in slow-to-talk toddlers: Prospective community-based study. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 35(4), 274281.Google Scholar
Levickis, P., Reilly, S., Girolametto, L., Ukoumunne, O. C., & Wake, M. (2018a). Associations between maternal responsive linguistic input and child language performance at age 4 in a community-based sample of slow-to-talk toddlers. Child: Care, Health and Development, 44(5), 776783.Google Scholar
Levickis, P., Reilly, S., Girolametto, L., Ukoumunne, O. C., & Wake, M. (2018b). A replicable, low-burden mechanism for observing, recording, and analysing mother–child interaction in population research. Child: Care, Health and Development, 44(6), 901907.Google Scholar
Lyons, R., & Roulstone, S. (2018). Well-being and resilience in children with speech and language disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61, 324344.Google Scholar
Marmot, M., Atkinson, A., Bell, J., Black, C., Broadfoot, P., Cumberlege, J., … & Mulgan, G. (2010). Fair society, healthy lives: The Marmot review executive summary. London: UCL.Google Scholar
McGillion, M., Pine, J. M., Herbert, J. S., & Matthews, D. (2017). A randomised controlled trial to test the effect of promoting caregiver contingent talk on language development in infants from diverse socioeconomic status backgrounds. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 58(10), 11221131.Google Scholar
McKean, C., Law, J., Mensah, F., Cini, E., Eadie, P., Frazer, K., & Reilly, S. (2016). Predicting meaningful differences in school-entry language skills from child and family factors at one year. International Journal of Early Childhood, 48(3), 329351.Google Scholar
McKean, C., Mensah, F. K., Eadie, P., Bavin, E. L., Bretherton, L., Cini, E., & Reilly, S. (2015). Levers for language growth: Characteristics and predictors of language trajectories between 4 and 7 years. PLoS ONE, 10(8), e0134251.Google Scholar
McKean, C., Reilly, S., Bavin, E. L., Bretherton, L., Cini, E., Conway, L., … & Mensah, F. (2017). Language outcomes at 7 years: Early predictors and co-occurring difficulties. Pediatrics, 139(3), e20161684.Google Scholar
McKean, C., Reilly, S., Morgan, A., & Law, J. (2018). Developmental language disorder. In Rueschemeyer, S. & Gaskell, G. M. (Eds.), Oxford handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 814839). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McKean, C., Wraith, D., Eadie, P., Cook, F., Mensah, F., & Reilly, S. (2017). Subgroups in language trajectory from 4 to 11 years: The nature and predictors of stable, improving and declining language trajectory groups. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(10), 10811091.Google Scholar
Melvin, K., Meyer, C., & Scarinci, N. (2019). What does ‘engagement’ mean in early speech pathology intervention? A qualitative systematised review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(18), 26652678.Google Scholar
Morgan, P. L., Hammer, C. S., Farkas, G., Hillemeier, M. M., Maczuga, S., Cook, M., & Morano, S. (2016). Who receives speech/language pathology services by 5 years of age in the United States? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25, 183199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mrazek, P. J., & Heggarty, R. J. (1994). Reducing risks of mental disorder: Frontiers for preventative intervention research. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Norbury, C. (2017). Developmental language disorder: The most common childhood condition you’ve never heard of. The Guardian, 22 September.Google Scholar
Pickstone, C., Goldbart, J., Marshall, J., Rees, A., & Roulstone, S. (2009). A systematic review of environmental interventions to improve child language outcomes for children with or at risk of primary language impairment. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 9(2), 6679.Google Scholar
Reilly, S., Bavin, E. L., Bretherton, L., Conway, L., Eadie, P., Cini, E., … & Wake, M. (2009). The Early Language in Victoria Study ELVS: A prospective, longitudinal study of communication skills and expressive vocabulary development at 8, 12 and 24 months. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(5), 344357.Google Scholar
Reilly, S., Cini, E., Gold, L., Goldfeld, S., Law, J., Levickis, P., … & Wardrop, L. (2018). Data resource profile: The Child LAnguage REpository (CLARE). International Journal of Epidemiology, 47(3), 688688j.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reilly, S., Cook, F., Bavin, E. L., Bretherton, L., Cahir, P., Eadie, P., … & Wake, M. (2018). Cohort profile: The Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 47(1), 1120.Google Scholar
Reilly, S., McKean, C., & Levickis, P. (2014). Late talking: Can it predict later language difficulties? Research snapshot 2. Melbourne: Centre for Research Excellence in Child Language.Google Scholar
Reilly, S., McKean, C., Morgan, A., & Wake, M. (2015). Identifying and managing common childhood language and speech impairments. British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.), 350, h2318.Google Scholar
Reilly, S., Tomblin, B., Law, J., McKean, C., Mensah, F. K., Morgan, A., … & Wake, M. (2014). Specific language impairment: A convenient label for whom? International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 49(4), 416451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reilly, S., Wake, M., Ukoumunne, O. C., Bavin, E., Prior, M., Cini, E., … & Bretherton, L. (2010). Predicting language outcomes at 4 years of age: Findings from the Early Language in Victoria Study. Pediatrics, 126(6), e1530e1537.Google Scholar
Roberts, M. Y., & Kaiser, A. P. (2011). The effectiveness of parent-implemented language interventions: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(3), 180199.Google Scholar
Roulstone, S., Coad, J., Ayre, A., Hambley, H., & Lindsay, G. (2012). The preferred outcomes of children with speech, language and communication needs and their parents. London: UK Department for Education.Google Scholar
Schoon, I., Parsons, S., Rush, R., & Law, J. (2009). Children’s language ability and psychosocial development: A 29-year follow-up study. Pediatrics, 126(1), e73e80.Google Scholar
Semel, E., Wiig, E. H., & Secord, W. A. (2006). Clinical evaluation of language fundamentals (fourth ed., Australian standardised ed.). Sydney: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Skeat, J., Eadie, P., Ukoumunne, O., & Reilly, S. (2010). Predictors of parents seeking help or advice about children’s communication development in the early years. Child: Care, Health and Development, 36(6), 878887.Google Scholar
Smith, J., Levickis, P., Eadie, T., Bretherton, L., Conway, L., & Goldfeld, S. (2018). Associations between maternal behaviors at 1 year and child language at 2 years in a cohort of women experiencing adversity. Infancy, 23(1), 74102.Google Scholar
Snowling, M. J., Duff, F. J., Nash, H. M., & Hulme, C. (2016). Language profiles and literacy outcomes of children with resolving, emerging, or persisting language impairments. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(12), 13601369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sperry, D. E., Sperry, L. L., & Miller, P. J. (2019). Reexamining the verbal environments of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Child Development, 90(4), 13031318.Google Scholar
Stern, C., & Stern, W. (1928). Die Kindersprache [The speech of children]. Leipzig: Barth.Google Scholar
Tomasello, M. (2000). First steps toward a usage-based theory of language acquisition. Cognitive Linguistics, 11(1–2), 6182.Google Scholar
Tomblin, B. (2008). Validating diagnostic standards for specific language impairment using adolescent outcomes. In Norbury, C. F., Tomblin, B., & Bishop, D. V. M. (Eds.), Understanding developmental language disorders: From theory to practice. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Tomblin, B., Records, N. L., & Zhang, X. (1996). A system for the diagnosis of specific language impairment in kindergarten children. Journal of Speech & Hearing Research, 39(6), 12841294.Google Scholar
Tomblin, B., Zhang, X., Buckwalter, P., & O’Brien, M. (2003). The stability of primary language disorder: Four years after kindergarten diagnosis. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46(6), 12831296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO. (2007). ICF-CY, International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health: Children & youth version. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Wiig, E. H., Secord, W. A., & Semel, E. (2006). Clinical evaluation of language fundamentals: Preschool (Australian standardised ed., 2nd ed.). Sydney: Harcourt Assessment.Google Scholar
Zubrick, S. R., Taylor, C. L., & Christensen, D. (2015). Patterns and predictors of language and literacy abilities 4–10 years in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. PLoS ONE, 10(9), e0135612.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×