Language, intelligence, academic achievement, and behavioral adjustment were assessed in a group of 20 adolescents originally studied 10 years earlier as preschoolers with language disorders. At follow-up, 20% had WISC-R IQ scores in the mentally deficient range and were being educated in EMR classrooms. Of the remaining 16, 11 (69%) had required special tutoring, grade retention, or LD class placement. The majority of non-EMR subjects continued to evidence persistent deficits in language and academic achievement and were rated by their parents as being less socially competent and having more behavioral problems than their peers. Of the initial preschool measures available, the Leiter was found to be the best single predictor of intelligence, language, class placement, and reading achievement in adolescence, although the NSST: Expressive subtest also was a strong predictor of adolescent language.

No abstract

Tests to measure comprehension, formulation, and repetition of certain phonologic, syntactic, and semantic aspects of language were administered to 47 children who had developmental language disorders. A factor analysis of the resultant scores indicated that three factors were present in the data. These factors are presented as six patterns of language performance, one for high loadings on the factor and one for low loadings. The six patterns are (1) repetition strength (Factor I, high); (2) nonspecific formulation-repetition deficit (Factor I, low); (3) generalized low performance (Factor II, high); (4) phonologic comprehension-formulation-repetition deficit (Factor II, low); (5) comprehension deficit (Factor III, high); and (6) formulation-repetition deficit (Factor III, low). Possible relations among these patterns and nonlinguistic measures (sex, race, age, nonverbal intelligence, socioeconomic status, and status of the peripheral speech mechanism) were investigated. Two of the patterns of language performance were found to be related significantly to age. On Factor II, the younger children tended to get high loadings (generalized low performance) while the older children tended to get low loadings (phonologic comprehension-formulation-repetition deficit).

This article describes the development of a Vocabulary Usage Test (VUT) for children between the ages of 34 to 63 months. The VUT was adapted from the PPVT, thus allowing direct comparison between vocabulary comprehension and usage. Administration procedures, scoring forms, and tentative normative data are presented.