Cover not available
Part of
Atypical Language Development in Romance Languages
Edited by Eva Aguilar-Mediavilla, Lucía Buil-Legaz, Raúl López-Penadés, Victor A. Sanchez-Azanza and Daniel Adrover-Roig
[Not in series 223] 2019
► pp. 1–20

Introduction to atypical language development in romance languages

| University of Balearic Islands
| University of Balearic Islands
| University of Balearic Islands
| University of Balearic Islands
| University of Balearic Islands
This chapter presents a state of the art in atypical language development in Romance languages and introduces, as well, the chapters in this book. The first part describes the aim of the book. The second part describes typical language acquisition in Romance language and their main differences with English. Finally, the third section focuses on four clinical conditions that show atypical language development: prematurity, Specific Language Impairment, hearing loss, and genetic syndromes.
Keywords: atypical language development, Romance languages, prematurity, Specific Language Impairment, hearing loss, genetic syndromes
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Typical language acquisition in Romance languages
  • Atypical language development
    • Preterm children
    • Specific Language Impairment
    • Deaf children
    • Genetic syndromes
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 11 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.223.01agu
References (89)
References
Aarnoudse-Moens, C. S. H., Weisglas-Kuperus, N., van Goudoever, J. B., & Oosterlaan, J. 2009. Meta-analysis of neurobehavioral outcomes in very preterm and/or very low birth weight children. Pediatrics 124(2), 717–728. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ackerman, B. P., Brown, E. D., & Izard, C. E. 2004. The relations between contextual risk, earned income, and the school adjustment of children from economically disadvantaged families. Developmental Psychology 40(2), 204–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aguilar-Mediavilla, E., Adrover-Roig, D., Buil-Legaz, L., & López-Penadés, R. 2016. Proceedings of the VIII International Conference of Language Acquisiction, Palma, UIB. Palma: UIB.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (APA). 2013. DSM-5. < [URL]> (8 October, 2018).
Andreu, L., Sanz-Torrent, M., & Trueswell, J. C. 2012. Anticipatory sentence processing in children with specific language impairment: Evidence from eye movements during listening. Applied Psycholinguistics 34(1), 5–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arias-Trejo, N., & Barrón-Martínez, J. B. 2017. Language skills in Down Syndrome. En A. Auza Benavides & R. G. Schwartz (Ed.), Language development and disorders in Spanish-speaking children (pp. 329–341). New York, NY: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Asad, A. N., Purdy, S. C., Ballard, E., Fairgray, L., & Bowen, C. 2018. Phonological processes in the speech of school-age children with hearing loss: Comparisons with children with normal hearing. Journal of Communication Disorders. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bates, E., Dale, P. S., & Thal, D. J. 1995. Individual differences and their implications for theories of language development. En P. Fletcher & B. MacWhinney (Ed.), The handbook of child language (pp. 96–151). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bates, E., Devescovi, A., & Wulfeck, B. 2001. Psycholinguistics: A cross-language perspective. Annual Review of Psychology 52, 369–398. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bavin, E. L. 1995. Language acquisition in crosslinguistic perspective. Annual Review of Anthropology 24(1): 373–396. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berman, R. A. 2014. Cross-linguistic comparisons in child language research. Journal of Child Language 41(S1), 26–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berman, R. A., & Slobin, D. I. 1987. Five ways of learning to talk about events: A crosslinguistic study of children’s narratives (Cognitive Science Report, Vol. 46). Berkeley, CA: Institute of Cognitive Studies.Google Scholar
1994. Relating events in narrative: A cross-linguistic developmental study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bishop, D. V. M. 2004. Specific language impairments: Diagnotic dilemmas. En Classification of developmental language disorders: Theoretical issues and clinical implications (pp. 309–326). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
2014. Ten questions about terminology for children with unexplained language problems. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 49(4), 381–415. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boons, T., De Raeve, L., Langereis, M., Peeraer, L., Wouters, J., & van Wieringen, A. 2013. Expressive vocabulary, morphology, syntax and narrative skills in profoundly deaf children after early cochlear implantation. Research in Developmental Disabilities 34(6), 2008–2022. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bosch, L. 2011. Precursors to language in preterm infants. En Progress in brain research (Vol. 189, pp. 239–257). Burlington, VT: Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. 2005. Productive activity and the prevention of behavior problems. Developmental Psychology 41(1), 89–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brock, J. 2007. Language abilities in Williams syndrome: A critical review. Development and Psychopathology 19(01), 97–127. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clark, C. A. C., & Woodward, L. J. 2015. Relation of perinatal risk and early parenting to executive control at the transition to school. Developmental Science 18(4), 525–542. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Conger, R. D., & Conger, K. J. 2002. Resilience in midwestern families: Selected findings from the first decade of a prospective, longitudinal study. Journal of Marriage and Family 64(2), 361–373. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davis, J. M., Elfenbein, J. L., Schum, R., & Bentler, R. A. 1986. Effects of mild and moderate hearing impairments on language, educational, and psychosocial behavior of children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 51(1), 53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dearing, E., McCartney, K., & Taylor, B. A. 2002. Change in family income-to-needs matters more for children with less. Child Development 72(6), 1779–1793. < [URL]> DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Delgado Domínguez, J., & Grupo PrevInfad/PAPPS Infancia y Adolescencia. 2011. Detección precoz de la hipoacusia infantil. Revista Pediatría de Atención Primaria 13(50), 279–297.Google Scholar
Devescovi, A., Caselli, M. C., Marchione, D., Pasqualetti, P., Reilly, J., & Bates, E. 2003. A cross-linguistic study of the relaitonship between grammar and lexical development. Manuscript, Center for Reseach in Language, University of California, San Diego.Google Scholar
Diez-itza, E. 2007. Estudios de desarrollo del lenguaje y educación. Oviedo: Universidad de Oviedo ICE.Google Scholar
Díez-Itza, E., Martínez, V., Fernández-Urquiza, M., & Antón, A. 2017. Morphological profile of Williams syndrome: Typical or atypical? In A. Auza-Benavides & R. G. Schwartz (Ed.), Language development and disorders in Spanish- speaking children (pp. 311–327). New York, NY: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Díez-Itza, E., Martínez, V., Pérez, V., & Fernández-Urquiza, M. 2018. Explicit oral narrative intervention for students with Williams syndrome. Frontiers in Psychology 8(JAN), 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Donnai, D., & Karmiloff-Smith, A. 2000. Williams syndrome: From gentotype through to the cognitive phenotype. American Journal of Medical Genetics 97(2), 164–171. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duinmeijer, I., de Jong, J., & Scheper, A. 2012. Narrative abilities, memory and attention in children with a specific language impairment. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 47(5), 542–555. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Elfenbein, J. L., Hardin-Jones, M. A., & Davis, J. M. 1994. Oral communication skills of children who are hard of hearing. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research 37(1), 216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fey, M. E., Catts, H. W., Proctor-Williams, K., Tomblin, J. B., & Zhang, X. 2004. Oral and written story composition skills of children with language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR 47(6), 1301–1318. < [URL]> DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fiestas, C. E., Bedore, L. M., Peña, E. D., & Nagy, V. J. 2005. Use of mazes in the narrative language samples of bilingual and monolingual 4- to 7-year old children. In J. Cohen, K. T. McAlister, K. Rolstad, & J. MacSwan (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism (pp. 730–740). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla.Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, E. M., Olds, J., Gaboury, I., McCrae, R., Schramm, D., & Durieux-Smith, A. 2012. Comparison of outcomes in children with hearing aids and cochlear implants. Cochlear Implants International 13(1), 5–15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Galeote, M., Soto, P., Sebastián, E., Checa, E., & Sánchez-Palacios, C. 2014. Early grammatical development in Spanish children with Down syndrome. Journal of Child Language 41(01), 111–131. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez, D. O., Cáceres, A. M., Bento-Gaz, A. C. P., & Befi-Lopes, D. M. 2012. The complexity of narrative interferes in the use of conjunctions in children with specific language impairment. Jornal da Sociedade Brasileira de Fonoaudiologia 24(2), 152–156. < [URL]> DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Guo, J., Lieven, E. V. M., Budwig, N., Ervin-Tripp, S., Nakamura, K., & Ozcaliskan, S. 2009. Crosslinguistic approaches to the psychology of language: Research in the tradition of Dan Isaac Slobin. New York, NY: Psychology Press. < [URL]>Google Scholar
Hoffman, M., Tiddens, E., & Quittner, A. L. 2018. Comparisons of visual attention in school-age children with cochlear implants versus hearing peers and normative data. Hearing Research 359, 91–100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holm, A., Crosbie, S., & Dodd, B. 2007. Differentiating normal variability from inconsistency in children’s speech: Normative data. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 42(4), 467–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ionio, C., Riboni, E., Confalonieri, E., Dallatomasina, C., Mascheroni, E., Bonanomi, A., … Comi, G. 2016. Paths of cognitive and language development in healthy preterm infants. Infant Behavior and Development 44, 199–207. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jackson-Maldonado, D., & Maldonado, R. 2017. Grammaticality differences between Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment and their typically developing peers. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 52(6), 750–765. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jansson-Verkasalo, E., Ruusuvirta, T., Huotilainen, M., Alku, P., Kushnerenko, E., Suominen, K., … Hallman, M. 2010. Atypical perceptual narrowing in prematurely born infants is associated with compromised language acquisition at 2 years of age. BMC Neuroscience 11(1), 88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jones, W., Bellugi, U., Lai, Z., Chiles, M., Reilly, J., Lincoln, A., & Adolphs, R. 2000. II. Hypersociability in Williams Syndrome. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 12(supplement 1), 30–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kapa, L. L., Plante, E., & Doubleday, K. 2017. Applying an integrative framework of executive function to preschoolers with Specific Language Impairment. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research 60(8), 2170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Karmiloff-Smith, A. 1992. Beyond modularity: A developmental perspective on cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; Bradford Books.Google Scholar
Kiese-Himmel, C. 2008. Receptive (aural) vocabulary development in children with permanent bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology 122(5). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kochhar, A., Hildebrand, M. S., & Smith, R. J. H. 2007. Clinical aspects of hereditary hearing loss. Genetics in Medicine 9(7), 393–408. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koldewijn, K., van Wassenaer, A., Wolf, M.-J., Meijssen, D., Houtzager, B., Beelen, A., … Nollet, F. 2010. A Neurobehavioral intervention and assessment program in very low birth weight infants: Outcome at 24 months. The Journal of Pediatrics 156(3), 359–365. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leonard, L. B. 2014a. Children with Specific Language Impairment and their contribution to the study of language development. Journal of Child Language 41(S1), 38–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014b. Specific Language Impairment across languages. Child Development Perspectives 8(1), 1–5. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2015. Specific Language Impairment (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Lieven, E. V. M. 1994. Crosslinguistic and crosscultural aspects of language addressed to children. En C. Gallaway & B. J. Richards (Ed.), Input and interaction in language acquisition (pp. 56–73). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010. Language development in a cross-linguistic context. In M. Kail & M. Hickmann (Eds.), Language acquisition across linguistic and cognitive systems (pp. 91–108). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, L., Oza, S., Hogan, D., Chu, Y., Perin, J., Zhu, J., … Black, R. E. 2016. Global, regional, and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000–15: An updated systematic analysis with implications for the Sustainable Development Goals. The Lancet 388(10063), 3027–3035. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
López-Ornat, S. 1998. La adquisición del lenguaje. Nuevas perspectivas. En F. Cuetos-Vega & M. de Vega (Ed.), Avances en la psicolingüística del español. Madrid: Siglo XXI.Google Scholar
May-Mederake, B. 2012. Early intervention and assessment of speech and language development in young children with cochlear implants. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology 76(7), 939–946. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mayor-Cinca, M. A., Zubiauz de de Pedro, B., & Díez, E. 2005. Estudios sobre la adquisición del lenguaje. Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca.Google Scholar
Mueller Gathercole, V. C., Sebastián, E., & Soto, P. 1999. The early acquisition of Spanish verbal morphology: Across-the-board or piecemeal knowledge? International Journal of Bilingualism 3(2–3), 133–182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Næss, K. A. B., Lyster, S. A. H., Hulme, C., & Melby-Lervåg, M. 2011. Language and verbal short-term memory skills in children with Down syndrome: A meta-analytic review. Research in Developmental Disabilities 32(6), 2225–2234. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Netten, A. P., Rieffe, C., Theunissen, S. C. P. M., Soede, W., Dirks, E., Korver, A. M. H., … Frijns, J. H. M. 2015. Early identification: Language skills and social functioning in deaf and hard of hearing preschool children. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology 79(12), 2221–2226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Niparko, J. K., Tobey, E. A., Thal, D. J., Eisenberg, L. S., Wang, N.-Y., Quittner, A. L., & Fink, N. E. 2010. Spoken language development in children following Cochlear implantation. JAMA 303(15), 1498–1506. < [URL]> DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Orphanet. 2018. Prevalence and incidence of rare diseases: Bibliographic data (Orphanet Report Series 2). < [URL]>Google Scholar
Parisse, C. & Maillart, C. (2009). Specific language impairment as systemic developmental disorders. Journal of Neurolinguistics 22(2), 109-122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Pereira, M. 1996. Estudios sobre la adquisición del castellano, catalán, esquera y gallego. Actas del I Encuentro Internacional sobre Adquisición de las lenguas del Estado. Santiago de Compostela: Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.Google Scholar
Petersen, N. K., Jørgensen, A. W., & Ovesen, T. 2015. Prevalence of various etiologies of hearing loss among cochlear implant recipients: Systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Audiology 54(12), 924–932. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peterson, D. B. & Gardner, C. M. (2011). Trastornos específicos del lenguaje: una revisión. Revista Chilena de Fonoaudiología 10, 19-32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Raviv, T., Kessenich, M., & Morrison, F. J. 2004. A mediational model of the association between socioeconomic status and three-year-old language abilities: The role of parenting factors. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 19(4), 528–547. <
CrossRef DOI logo with hyperlink to permanent DOI
> DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reilly, J., Losh, M., Bellugi, U., & Wulfeck, B. 2004. 'Frog, where are you?' Narratives in children with specific language impairment, early focal brain injury, and Williams syndrome. Brain and Language 88(2), 229–247. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Repetti, R. L., Taylor, S. E., & Seeman, T. E. 2002. Risky families: Family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin 128(2), 330–366. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ruben, R. J. 2018. Language development in the pediatric cochlear implant patient. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology 3(3), 209–213. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sansavini, A., Guarini, A., & Caselli, M. C. 2011. Preterm birth: Neuropsychological profiles and atypical developmental pathways. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews 17(2), 102–113. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schalock, R. L., & Luckasson, R. 2004. American Association on Mental Retardation’s Definition, Classification, and System of Supports and its relation to international trends and issues in the field of intellectual disabilities. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities 1(3), 136–146. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, R. G. 2009. Handbook on child language disorders. New York NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Scott, M. N., Taylor, H. G., Fristad, M. A., Klein, N., Espy, K. A., Minich, N., & Hack, M. 2012. Behavior disorders in extremely preterm/extremely low birth weight children in kindergarten. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics 33(3), 202–213. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serenius, F., Ewald, U., Farooqi, A., Fellman, V., Hafström, M., Hellgren, K., … 2016. Extremely preterm infants in Sweden study group. Neurodevelopmental outcomes among extremely preterm infants 6.5 years after active perinatal care in Sweden. JAMA Pediatrics 170(10), 954. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serra-Raventós, M., Serrat Sellabona, E., Solé Planas, R., Bel Leal, A., & Aparici Aznar, M. 2000. La adquisición del lenguaje. Barcelona: Ariel.Google Scholar
Sorkin, D. L., Gates-Ulanet, P., & Mellon, N. K. 2015. Psychosocial aspects of hearing loss in Children. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America 48(6), 1073–1080. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spittle, A., Orton, J., Anderson, P. J., Boyd, R., & Doyle, L. W. 2015. Early developmental intervention programmes provided post hospital discharge to prevent motor and cognitive impairment in preterm infants. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 776(11), CD005495. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, J., McCann, D., Watkin, P., Worsfold, S., & Kennedy, C. 2010. The relationship between language development and behaviour problems in children with hearing loss. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 51(1), 77–83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Shannon, J. D., Cabrera, N. J., & Lamb, M. E. 2004. Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-year-olds: contributions to language and cognitive development. Child Development 75(6), 1806–1820. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor, H. G., & Clark, C. A. C. 2016. Executive function in children born preterm: Risk factors and implications for outcome. Seminars in Perinatology 40(8), 520–529. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thorne, J. C., Coggins, T. E., Carmichael Olson, H., & Astley, S. J. 2007. Exploring the utility of narrative analysis in diagnostic decision making: Picture-bound reference, elaboration, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research 50(2), 459. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tomasello, M. 2003. Constructing a language : A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. < [URL]>Google Scholar
Tomblin, J. B., Oleson, J. J., Ambrose, S. E., Walker, E., & Moeller, M. P. 2014. The influence of hearing aids on the speech and language development of children with hearing loss. JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery 140(5), 403. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toth, K., de Lacy, N., & King, B. H. 2016. Intelectual disability. In M. K. Dulcan (Ed.), Dulcan’s textbook of child and adolescent psychiatry (pp. 105–133). Arlington VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Noort-van der Spek, I. L., Franken, M.-C. J. P., & Weisglas-Kuperus, N. 2012. Language functions in preterm-born children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pediatrics 129(4), 745–754. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Webb, A. R., Heller, H. T., Benson, C. B., & Lahav, A. 2015. Mother’s voice and heartbeat sounds elicit auditory plasticity in the human brain before full gestation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112(10), 3152–3157. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williamson, K. E., & Jakobson, L. S. 2014. Social perception in children born at very low birthweight and its relationship with social/behavioral outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 55(9), 990–998. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
World Health Organisation. 2018. Addressing the rising prevalence of hearing loss. < [URL]>Google Scholar