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. 2019 Oct 10;50(4):540-561.
doi: 10.1044/2019_LSHSS-VOIA-18-0138. Epub 2019 Oct 10.

Spoken Word Learning Differences Among Children With Dyslexia, Concomitant Dyslexia and Developmental Language Disorder, and Typical Development

Mary Alt  1 , Shelley Gray  2 , Tiffany P Hogan  3 , Nora Schlesinger  4 , Nelson Cowan  5
Affiliations

Spoken Word Learning Differences Among Children With Dyslexia, Concomitant Dyslexia and Developmental Language Disorder, and Typical Development

Mary Alt et al. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. .

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of our study was to test the hypotheses (a) that children with dyslexia have spoken word learning deficits primarily related to phonology and (b) that children with dyslexia and concomitant developmental language disorder (DLD) have word learning deficits related to both phonology and semantic processing when compared to peers with typical development (TD). Method Second-graders with dyslexia (n = 82), concomitant dyslexia and DLD (dyslexia + DLD; n = 40), and TD (n = 167) learned names and semantic features for cartoon monsters in 5 carefully controlled word learning tasks that varied phonological and semantic demands. The computer-based tasks were played in 6 different word learning games. We analyzed results using Bayesian statistics. Results In general, the dyslexia + DLD group showed lower accuracy on tasks compared to the dyslexia and TD groups. As predicted, word learning tasks that taxed phonology revealed deficits in the dyslexia group, although there were some exceptions related to visual complexity. Word learning deficits in the dyslexia + DLD group were present in tasks that taxed phonology, semantic processing, or both. Conclusions The dyslexia + DLD group demonstrated word learning deficits across the range of word learning tasks that tapped phonology and semantic processing, whereas the dyslexia group primarily struggled with the phonological aspects of word learning. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.9807929.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Example of visual feature recall response screen.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Example of a set of monsters in a typical word learning game.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Violin plot of standard scores on the nonverbal intelligence measure by group. KABCstd = Standard nonverbal intelligence score on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children; DLD = developmental language disorder; TD = typical development.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Accuracy on the naming task by group, with group differences with at least moderate evidence noted. DLD = developmental language disorder; TD = typical development.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Adjusted accuracy on the mispronunciation task by group, with group differences with at least moderate evidence noted. DLD = developmental language disorder; TD = typical development.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Accuracy on the visual feature recall task by group, with group differences with at least moderate evidence noted. DLD = developmental language disorder; TD = typical development.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Adjusted accuracy on the visual difference decision task by group, with group differences with at least moderate evidence noted. DLD = developmental language disorder; TD = typical development.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Accuracy on the phonological–visual linking task by group, with group differences with at least moderate evidence noted. DLD = developmental language disorder; TD = typical development.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Summary of between-groups differences from analysis of variance (ANOVA) results. TD = typical development; DLD = developmental language disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adlof S. M., & Hogan T. P. (2018). Understanding dyslexia in the context of developmental language disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 49(4), 762–773. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alt M. (2011). Phonological working memory impairments in children with specific language impairment: Where does the problem lie? Journal of Communication Disorders, 44(2), 173–185. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alt M. (2013). Visual fast mapping in school-aged children with specific language impairment. Topics in Language Disorders, 33, 328–346. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alt M., Arizmendi G. D., Gray S., Hogan T. P., Green S., & Cowan N. (2019). Novel word learning in children who are bilingual: Comparison to monolingual peers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62, 2332–2360. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alt M., Hogan T., Green S., Gray S., Cabbage K., & Cowan N. (2017). Word learning deficits in children with dyslexia. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60, 1012–1028. https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_JSHLR-L-16-0036 - PMC - PubMed

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