Provide sufficient details of any financial or non-financial competing interests to enable users to assess whether your comments might lead a reasonable person to question your impartiality. (2002) and Michael et al. However, although the estimate of proportion of variance accounted for differed between the two tests, the confidence intervals of the estimates overlapped, and the estimates were high for both TECS-E and TROG-2. Here we could not make a statistical comparison as children with DS performed at floor on the TROG-2. With the exception of two of the TECS-E practice items, which are fully available, the source code for the remainder of TECS-E is uploaded with dummy videos to allow it to run. The animations were shown in one of two standard random orders (forward/backward) to control for order effects. Email or password not correct. However, we also expected to be able to drop one predictor, depending on the results of our first analysis. With the exception of 5 children with DS who attended special schools, all others attended mainstream schools. The alpha function of of the R psych package (Revelle, 2018) was used to assess internal consistency of TECS-E for the whole sample, giving Cronbach’s alpha of .877. We would like to thank the children with Down syndrome who took part in the project and their parents and teachers who facilitated data collection. 1.1.1 Development of child's ability to create grammatical constructions by arranging words in an appropriate order. Frizelle P, Thompson PA, Duta M and Bishop DVM. However, one key difference between the current study and that of Thordardottir and colleagues, which could account for this apparent superior expressive performance, is the age profile of the participants with DS in each study. In the usual administration, items are presented in blocks, each focusing on a particular grammatical structure. Using the TROG-2 as the receptive language measure, studies such as those by Finestack et al. We'll keep you updated on any major new updates to Wellcome Open Research, © F1000 Research Limited and its licensors ISSN 2398-502X | Legal. A strong relationship between memory and syntax has also emerged. Hispania 81: 576-587.---. Based on previous findings (such as those reported by Abbeduto et al., 2003; Chapman, 2006; Laws & Bishop, 2004) we hypothesised that those with DS would perform similarly to those with an intellectual disability of unknown origin but more poorly than the TD group matched on non-verbal ability. The written mode promotes the creation of complex syntactic units, as constructing a piece of written language imposes cognitive demands on memory, executive functions, and top-down processing that are not readily met before adolescence. It accounted for 6% of the variance in TROG-2 score (r2 = 0.06 p = 0.009). This study examines the emergence of complex syntax in interlanguage (IL) development through a functionalist analysis of longitudinal, conversational IL data from two Vietnamese learners of English. The characteristic profile of language abilities in those with DS suggests that receptive language is typically better than expressive language (Chapman et al., 2002; Laws & Bishop, 2003) and that vocabulary is stronger than syntax. The test is designed to require no language for administration. The comparable constructions included in both tests were the intransitive subject relatives (attached to a main clause object). Within each number sequence, individual numbers were highlighted on the tablet screen to indicate the pace at which they should be read aloud. Again, our results did not support our prediction, in that the children with DS performed at a dramatically lower level than both control groups. We made the assumption that the effect size for the difference between those with cognitive impairment of unknown origin and those with typical development is similar in magnitude to the previous average effect. With respect to children with typical development, we can see that they performed near ceiling on all relative clause types. (2002) took a number of measures, at four time intervals over a 6-year period, from 31 individuals with DS between the ages of 5 and 20 years. To ensure a consistent presentation both subtests were administered with the aid of a tablet. (2017); Frizelle et al. TD children were included on the basis that they had never been referred for speech and language therapy, had typical language abilities (based on teacher and parental reports), and had no known neurological or hearing difficulties. I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. In this longitudinal study Loban tracked a sample of 338 children from ages 5 through 18 starting in 1953 (211 ended up staying in the study until the end). The performance range of each group is illustrated in the plot at Figure 2. TD, typically developing; CI, cognitive impairment of unknown aetiology; DS, Down syndrome. This was followed by the memory variables (forward and backward digit accuracy scores) both of which were highly significant in accounting for a further 62% of the variance in TECS-E score. We also examined how children performed on TECS-E relative to a standardized test of grammar using the multiple-choice format. We know that for typical language learners complex syntax production emerges shortly after children begin to combine words and development proceeds rapidly across the preschool years… The median effect size from prior literature was 0.19. This study was funded by a grant to PF from the DOCTRid research institute, Ireland. A limited production of passives has also been reported (Bridges & Smith, 1984; Fowler, 1990; Ring & Clahsen, 2005). The 95% confidence intervals overlapped (TECS-E: 0.576–0.775; TROG-2: 0.656–0.823), indicating that the difference in magnitude between the estimates was not reliable. METHODS: Participants were children with or without DD (N = 60) participating in a longitudinal study of development. However, one could argue that the very process of trying to recall the digits in reverse order may add a layer of executive demand. Backward digit recall involves repeating a list of digits in reverse order and is regarded to be a measure of working-memory, as it requires both the storage and processing of information. In order to rule out this possibility, we would need a comparison task with the same yes/no format, but where we were confident that the children understood the items. Complex syntax, Down syndrome, children, receptive language, relative clause, complement clause, adverbial clause. When criticisms of the article are based on unpublished data, the data should be made available. In order to compare the two testing methods fairly, we needed to adopt a stringent scoring of the TECS-E, where a pass is credited for perfect performance (8/8 two-choice items correct); the probability of achieving 8/8 by chance (p = 0.004) is the same as for getting all four four-choice items correct on TROG-2. In the teen years, your child should develop the ability to use more complex syntax and to adapt her oral and written communication to her audience, according to the U.S. Department of Education. A longitudinal study would be required to confirm this. 1998. A qualified statistician is required. As for syntactic measures in spontaneous language, it is the complex spans that explain the major part of the variance in the control children. The finding that intransitive subject relatives were the least difficult to understand (when compared to relatives including a range of syntactic roles) is in keeping with previous research findings in relation to children with DLD (Frizelle & Fletcher, 2014) and children with typical development (Diessel & Tomasello, 2005; Frizelle et al., 2018a). Default 0. You are a close professional associate of any of the authors (e.g. In a previous study (Frizelle et al., 2018a), reporting on typically developing 3- to 5-year-olds, we reported the following hierarchy: intransitive subject > indirect object = transitive subject = object = oblique relatives (where ‘>’ refers to significantly greater than, and ‘=’ refers to no significant differences). Our final prediction relates to the question of whether cognitive and memory variables would account for more of the variance in children’s performance on the multiple-choice comprehension task (TROG-2) than on TECS-E. A description of each of the animations is available in Supplementary File 1. This allowed us to identify whether those with DS have a characteristic syntactic profile relative to the other two groups. Reviewer Expertise: speech, language and communication in children with Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, Reviewer Expertise: Developmental disorders especially those involving communication difficulties. Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature? WS, Williams Syndrome; TACL-R, Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language-Revised (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1985); TROG-2, Test for the Reception of Grammar, 2nd edition (Bishop, 2003); TAPS, Test of Active and Passive Sentences (van der Lely, 1996). The aim of these comparisons is to see whether there is a distinctive profile specific to those with DS relative to other groups who have a language and or cognitive impairment. syntactic development of children through counting the MLU (mean length of utterance). To investigate this, we conducted a hierarchical linear regression analysis using likelihood ratio tests. 1 Syntax development. This makes it possible to see whether language development is merely following a typical, but markedly delayed, course, or whether there is a distinctive profile with strengths and weaknesses in specific aspects of language. Using this approach we found that TD children as young as 3;06 years showed understanding of some complex constructions that they had found difficult when tested using the more traditional multiple choice picture-pointing approach (see Frizelle et al., 2018a). The Cork Teaching Hospitals Ethics Committee granted ethical approval for the study (ECM 4-07/10/14). We document here how we have responded to each one (with the exception of stylistic/typographical changes, which we have generally incorporated). Here, the results were contrary to our predictions in that there was a highly significant effect of DS. If this were the case, their similar performance would have been based primarily on their understanding of simple syntactic constructions and this would account for our contrasting findings. However, this format is likely to lead to children failing for reasons other than a lack of linguistic knowledge. It is not permitted to re-use them in any profit making endeavor. for the sentence If the gate was open the horse could walk away the animation showed that the horse was tied up so that even if the gate was open he could not walk away). Syntax is a part of linguistics that is involved in the study of sentence structure. As shown by Tse et al. The test sentences were chosen on the basis of pilot work carried out by the first author, work completed by Diessel & Tomasello (2000); Diessel & Tomasello (2005) and research by Frizelle & Fletcher (2014) and Frizelle et al. parent, spouse, sibling, or domestic partner) with any of the authors. If you are a previous or current Wellcome grant holder, sign up for information about developments, publishing and publications from Wellcome Open Research. This result is consistent with previous findings (see Finestack et al., 2013; Joffe & Varlokosta, 2009; Laws & Bishop, 2003; Pennington et al., 2003; Price et al., 2007; Rosin et al., 1988). On the surface, one subtest from the TACL-R (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1985) on which the authors reported (Elaborated Sentences) is particularly relevant to the current study, as it includes complex sentences in its target structures (approximately 50% of the constructions are complex). Given our specific focus on complex sentences, which require the processing and integration of information from two clauses (Martin & McElree, 2009), it is not surprising that we find memory to play an important role. We hypothesised that this may reveal a greater level of syntactic understanding than when using a traditional multiple-choice format. Approved with reservations - A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. Complement clause performance showed the strongest understanding of pretend constructions, with think causing the greatest difficulty. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and engaging with it. In relation to adverbial clauses, the current study shows that children with typical development had the greatest understanding of before temporal and because causal constructions, with the conditional if causing difficulty for 76% of these children. Co-ordinated sentences, clausal complements and relative clauses were all noted in the narrative samples, with no significant differences between the groups in either the proportion or the diversity of complex sentences used. References to our previous work explaining why we consider TECS-E to be a less demanding cognitive task. It is questionable whether this gap in syntax remains as children grow and age and receive further educational opportunities. You hope/expect to benefit (e.g. They suggested that when compared to digit and word span, the syntactic processing load of a sentence was particularly difficult for the individuals with DS to parse and recall. Our findings contrast with those of a number of previous studies comparing people with DS and those with intellectual or language impairment. The usual direction of effect posited between the development of concepts and the language that encodes them is, quite naturally, that the concepts develop before the corresponding terms. For instance, the child might be shown a picture of a girl drinking and just be asked to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the sentence ‘a horse is drinking’. Parallel Structure in Sentences. All groups spoke English as their first language and the language of the home, and both control groups underwent hearing-screening tests across the same frequency range as those with DS. Compound-complex Syntax Examples: Even though he was nervous, the boy jumped and he landed across the stream. 4) Cognitive ability, verbal memory, working memory and hearing level will predict performance in the DS group.